Neville Augustus Gordon ()

Date of birth: Jan 19, 2010
Date of death: Jan 20, 2010

Neville Augustus Gordon  or “Gandhi” as he was affectionately know by his friends. Is a national of Trinidad and Tobago was born in 

Scarborough, Tobago but raised in  Patience Hill, Tobago in the Caribbean. 

Born the only child to Anabella Pantin on October 22, 1934. He was raised by his maternal grandmother, Isadora Nelson and his Maternal Aunt Fedna Nelson. As a youth Neville was very bright hence he received  the name “Gandhi” which was bestowed upon him by his friends. He was a very active athlete participating in soccer and track.  

He moved to Trinidad after graduating from Bishop High School in 1954. As a teenager, he developed a keen interest in the cultural aspect of music that was played. He loved both vocal and instrumental music. He started his musical career playing the tenor pan in 1955 as a member of the Patience Hill, Cross Fire Steel Band. 

At the same time he was also a member of the “Spring Garden Male Voice Choir” in Tobago in which he sang alto in a group that consisted of ten members.  The group toured Grenada and St. Vincent. During the tour the he met and befriended Clive Bradley one of Trinidad’s elite musicians. 

In 1958, he became a Agricultural Officer with the Government of Trinidad and Tobago located in Centeno, Trinidad. He began taking piano lessons, but soon bought a guitar and then became a self taught guitarist. After developing his skills he formed a singing quartet “The Vikings”. They made a appearance on the Trinidad and Tobago Television contest called “Scouting for Talent”. In addition, he played rhythm guitar for the band “The Gay Bachelors Combo” of Arima in the late 1960s. 

His love for music along with his cultural sensitivity led him to make record collecting one of his favorite pastime activities. As a result, he possess an archive of recording of cultural significance to Trinidad and Tobago that goes back to the first ever recording in 1912. The collection includes calypsos, instrumentals of string bands, brass bands, and steel drums, folk music, and individual instrumentalist like the Trinidad national, world pianist, Winifred Atwell. The collection is quite large and expands over several genres and decades of music. 

In 1969, he migrated to Tuskegee,

Alabama to attend Tuskegee University to study veterinarian medicine. As things did not pan out, he relocated once again to Brooklyn, NY. There is where he spent most of his adult life. Brooklyn became his new home away from back home. since it had a rich and vibrant Caribbean Culture. He eventually landed a job at Blue Cross Blue Shield in Manhattan. He stayed there a few years until he decided to go back to school. In June 1994,  he graduated from the New School for Social Research in New York, NY their he received his Bachelors degree in Humanities and Masters degree in Health Administration. Then he was finally able to achieve the job he loved and felt passionate about until his retirement. He started off at first working as a social worker for the Administration for Children Services City of New York Family Preservation from 1991-1996. Neville always advocated and loved to protect children which eventually landed him a position of supervisor in that same department of social services from 1996-2002. He eventually retired from that  position and continued to enjoy life adding more records to his record collection and transferring them all into a external hard drive. He took more time during retirement to focus on staying connected with his friends and family all over the world.

Neville will be remembered as a caring loving father, cousin, uncle, grandfather, godfather, great-grandfather. A man who was there for his family and friends and was never to busy to answer a call. He will be dearly missed for his wisdom and compassion. To know him was to enjoy his company he loved life and did his best to enjoy it. Although he is gone he will never be forgotten he left a great strong legacy and many will be calling his name for years to come. 

Surviving Family Members include 

Daughters: Carla Gordon- Lynch, Elisa Francis, Zola Mitchell

Son-In-Law: Brent Lynch and Paul Francis 

Grand Children: Karyne Bradford, Austin Lynch, Joshua Lynch, Rukiya  Francis, Zakiya  Francis 

Great Grand Children: 

Ka’mari Bradford and  Xavier Francis Awai

Cousins: Patricia Harris-Cuffe, Owen Lancaster, Tina Swaby, Christopher Swaby, Donna Noel and numerous family and friends and friends who became family. 

Place of funeral: Tampa, Fl 

Date of Funeral: Sunday October 25, 2020

Time of funeral: 1pm-3pm

God bless you Neville “Gandhi” Augustus Gordon.

Gone but could never be forgotten.