Gordon, Mary Adelman – d. 2012

ADELMAN, GORDON, SCHWARTZ, WESTGATE

Posted By: Diana Wagner
Date: 7/16/2024 at 13:14:14

Mary Adelman Gordon, 99, of Des Moines, Iowa, passed away at home Tuesday afternoon, August 28, 2012. She was born in Des Moines and attended Greenwood Elementary School and Roosevelt High School. She attended Radcliffe College, Harvard University and The University of Chicago where she studied English under Thornton Wilder.
After college, she went to work for the Guarantee Finance Corporation that was founded by her father Julius D. Adelman and later became part of ITT Corporation.
Mary was married for 62 years to Bennett Gordon who passed away in 2004. Bennett was the founder of B&G Motors, Blue Ribbon Distributing Company and Chairman of the Board of Gordon's Wholesale Inc. and Gordon Foods Inc. Mary was President of the Temple B'nai Jeshurun sisterhood and head of its scholarship fund. She was a long time patron of the Des Moines Symphony and an avid golfer and bridge player. She was a member of The Wakonda Club, The Embassy Club, and The Des Moines Club.
She had a love of literature and taught Great Books courses as a volunteer in the public schools and was a founding member of her adult Great Books discussion group. Her biggest delight, however, was her family.
She is survived by two sons, John of Minneapolis, Minnesota and Jim of Chicago, Illinois and Aspen, Colorado; eight grandchildren; three great grandchildren; and two daughters-in-law, Joanne Westgate Gordon and Andrea Schwartz Gordon.
Services will be at Temple B'nai Jeshurun at 51st and Grand Avenue at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, September 5th followed by a reception at the Wakonda Club. Private burial will be at Woodland Cemetery in the endowed Gordon/Adelman Section. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Gordon/Adelman Fund at Temple B'nai Jeshurun.
Arrangements By Iles Funeral Homes - Dunn's Chapel
Published in Des Moines (IA) Register; Sunday, September 2, 2012, page 8B