Obituary of Gordon Russell Earley

“The Camp Director” & "The Grinder" Gordy was born February 8, 1930 and passed away June 28, 2012. He was born in Tacoma, went to Clover Park High School and lived his whole life in Tacoma and died at the age of 82. In 1970 Gordy married Barbara Graham and added four daughters and one son to his family, Debbie (Enos), Kathy (Walton), Cindy (Stoffel), David (Stoffel) and Janet (Stoffel), adding seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren along the way. Gordy is preceded in death by his mother Miriam, his father Russell and his brother Wayne. He is survived by his brother John. Gordy lived in the same house since 1961 and was often visited by the many friends he had made over the years. Gordy served honorably in the United States Army in the Korean War and was entrusted with running big machinery. Gordy’s main career in life was as a field boilermaker. He worked at Martinac Shipyard in the 70’s. He retired from C.H. Murphy/Clark-Ullman in Tacoma in 1992. Gordy was active in attending meetings with Local 502. He would always brag about the prizes he won and the people he spoke with. In his free time Gordy was an accomplished craftsman. He built race cars and boats. He was a member of the Torguers car club and attended all the reunions. He was also active in a local car club better known as the “old farts club”. Gordy built his Touring car, named “Elvira”, a 23 Overland hybrid and drove it to and from Oregon many times. “When Gordy was building his Touring car, he asked Jerry Eng and I if we could help him finish it up by doing the wiring and final touches. His comment during this process was he was happy with the results but it cost him a half a gallon of Carstairs every night after the work was done” -Lee Schauf One of his great loves was camping. He spent a lot of time with friends and family at Driftwood Point and Lake Nawatzel. He was also an avid hunter. His favorite place to hunt was Pine Creek in Oregon. He hunted that area for 58 years. During that time he befriended the Sullivan family and he knew that country there as well as anyone. Gordy was an avid sports fan and his TV was always on a sports station during the day. He played hockey in high school for Clover Park High School from 1948-49. He was a Seahawks and Mariners fan and attended and had a blast at his first Sonics game right before they left town. Gordy was a very outgoing person, willing to talk with anyone who would sit and listen. He had numerous jokes he liked to tell and loved hearing new ones. He was well known in the North End and could tell a story about every person he knew. ”Gordy was one of my best friends, we met in 1961 and were hunting partners and friends until he passed. We will miss him, but he will always remain in our hearts” -Lee Schauf To sum it up: Gordon Earley was a local legend, if you didn’t know him you weren’t from around here. Arrangements by Edwards Memorial 253-566-1008.