William F. Gordon

Princeton - William Frank Gordon, 96, entered the glorious presence of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on March 24, 2026, having spent his final days at Goldwater Care Center in Princeton, Illinois. Frank was born in Coffey, Missouri, on February 19, 1930, to Edwin and Ida Belle (Waffle) Gordon. As a child, Frank joined the Boy Scouts and spent his days playing with his brothers, Stan and Dean, when they were free from their studies. His family moved several times but finally settled in Princeton, Illinois, where he began junior high. At 15, Frank was hired to be an errand boy at the Bureau County Tribune. He was active in several clubs in high school, played football, starred in both his junior and senior plays, and was a member of the student newspaper, the band, and the orchestra. While attending Princeton High School, Frank met Jinny, his future wife and the love of his life. He graduated from Princeton High in 1947. After high school, he worked as a milkman in Mendota and took a job as a linotype operator for Wayside Press before returning to the Bureau County Tribune as their sole linotype operator. Frank married Jinny on January 22, 1950, at the Methodist church in Princeton before establishing their first home there. They would eventually raise five daughters together. At 21, he became the foreman of the Tiskilwa Chief. He was later hired as the chief floorman of the Bureau County Republican before he was employed by The Daily Journal in Kankakee, Illinois, where he worked from 1961 until his retirement in February of 1995. Frank was a faithful man, highly intelligent, easygoing, exceedingly kind, and extremely generous, opening his home to family and friends alike. He was an avid reader, a writer, a gifted poet, a songwriter, an adoring husband, a devoted father, and a doting grandfather. Frank was a lifelong beekeeper, taking excellent care of his hives for more than sixty years. He also dedicated over two decades to prison ministry, sharing the love of Jesus with inmates through personal and group Bible studies. In his early years, he served Asbury United Methodist Church as a youth director; in his later years, by driving its bus to offer parishioners a ride to Sunday services. He stayed active well into his eighties, serving as a minister in the local prison and caring for his bees. Frank and his wife lived in Kankakee for 62 years before returning to Princeton in July of 2024. The following January, a celebration of their 75th wedding anniversary was held at their new residence, Greenfield Retirement Home. By the end of their lives, they had spent nearly eighty years together. Frank was preceded in death by his precious wife Jinny, Virginia Elizabeth (Smith) Gordon; his daughters, Ann Weakly Keisler of Wichita, KS; Lynn Poole Fritz of Kankakee, IL; Lisa Harms Ebersole of Bourbonnais, IL; and his grandson, Eric Gordon of Kankakee, IL. Frank's brothers, Theodore Dean Gordon and Stanley Edwin Gordon also passed into eternity before him. Frank is survived by his daughters, Wendy Nickoley of Rockaway, NJ, and Jane Chap of Patagonia, AZ, and by his grandchildren, Jeramie Redman of Tucson, AZ, Elizabeth Fisher of Wichita, KS, Britt Harms of Manteno, IL, Christine Besser of Fort Mill, SC, Daniel Nickoley of Auckland, New Zealand, Megan Lathrop of Roswell, GA, Susan Cunningham of Tulsa, OK, and Stephen Nickoley of Lake Hopatcong, NJ. Frank has also left behind three nieces, Dona Hildebrand of Princeton, IL, Mariellen Wick of Newark, IL, and Nancy Gordon of Fullerton, CA, as well as two nephews, Michael Gordon of Bowie, MD, and Robert Gordon of Palo Alto, CA. Frank left a beautiful legacy of remarkable faithfulness to his twenty-two great-grandchildren. A Celebration of Frank's life will be held at 3 p.m. on Sunday, July 12, 2026, at Norberg Memorial Home, Inc., & Monuments, 701 E. Thompson St., Princeton, IL 61356. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Doctors Without Borders Kenya Division at doctorswithoutborders.org. Doctors Without Borders, PO BoX 5023, Hagerstown, MD 21741 Online condolences may be left at www.norbergfh.com Arrangements entrusted to Norberg Memorial Home, Inc. & Monuments.

William F. Gordon

February 19, 1930 - March 24, 2026