Gordon Schorr
Contact information availableGordon muses
John Baker and I moved to Troy, NY, and roomed together the first year at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) where he studied Electrical Engineering and I studied Chemical Engineering. We did meet up with Peggy Hoff at Russell Sage, just down the hill, but otherwise most of my contacts with the class of 66 were indirect through my twin, Sandra. Sandy and I don’t get together often enough (our parents try to keep us apart because we get into a lot of trouble when together…) She is still a “bad” influence on me, although some say that I have that backwards. Here is an early photo of us (Mom probably took her gun) and a more recent one as we are heading out to terrorize the Amish community in Ohio.
Gordon and Sandy Schorr
Gordon and Sandy Schorr several years later
I hired into Goodyear in 1970 with a 224 draft number, for a time regretted having rejected the technical deferment they offered, but narrowly avoided both Vietnam and Canada. In Beaumont, Texas I worked in one of the Goodyear chemical plants, making synthetic rubber. I married and imported a fellow “Billie” and long time girlfriend, Patricia Campbell, in 1972 (we met at WCHS in 1966). After seven years of Gulf Coast pollution and heat, we escaped and took a transfer to France in 1978, where we felt at home and had our first two children. When we returned in 1981, we chose to move to Akron, Ohio, and had our third child several years later. During my time in the Goodyear Chemical Division, I had the good fortune to meet wonderful people and travel extensively overseas. Somehow I also found myself with graduate degrees in business and engineering from Lamar University, Kent State and the University of Akron (something good rubbed off from my twin Sandy?).
I continue to learn more about myself all the time. Somewhere along the line I switched from reading comics to existentialist literature (Meg?), to quantum physics (trying to keep up with Dave Plaisted) and then philosophy (not a big jump), finally to marvel that the deepest truths of life are still found in comics like Pogo, Calvin and Hobbes, and Dilbert. While I have matured somewhat, I have never grown up completely. Patricia has been very patient with me up to this point, and I am still very much a work in progress. Here’s a shot of the family: William (25), Lauren (27) and Michael (16), Gordon and Patricia.
William (25), Lauren (27) and Michael (16), Gordon and Patricia.
The 20th reunion really had a significant impact on me, as I recognized how much in common we have from our collective experiences at Williamsville, and while we looked different on the outside, we still had the same familiar spark on the inside, one that defines us and one that never goes away. What will we bring back to our 40th reunion?
Life moves in circles and these past few years the part of me that is still in the 60’s and challenging everything was running into walls at Goodyear whenever I tried to push the envelope. I retired recently after 35 years when our most profitable division imploded as a sacrifice to keep the corporate engine running. (Shades of Ayn Rand!) Coincidently, or not, I found myself as a Senior Fellow of the not-for-profit University of Akron Research Foundation (UARF), and head up for-profit business and investment organizations focused in Northeast Ohio. Patricia, ever the balance between my muse and my rock, teaches French and Spanish at nearby Walsh Jesuit High School, with great passion.
I hope we all continue to change, explore and experience. I am looking forward to hearing about you. I am afraid the weekend will be far too short. Please feel free to contact me at any time. Best regards to all.
