Gillette Edward Gordon

Gillette Edward Gordon1892-1959

G. Edward Gordon was born in Connersville, Indiana. He attended high school in Riverside, California, and graduated from the University of California in 1917.

Before becoming a Farm Advisor for Los Angeles County and, beginning in 1924, Extension Dairyman for the Agricultural Extension Service, Eddy was a supervisor of the farm and dairy herd at Patton State Hospital .

Eddy was one of the first dairy authorities in the nation to visualize the vast improvement that could be made in production level of the State's dairy herds. As Extension Dairyman he assumed leadership of the statewide California Herd Improvement Program which had been initiated in 1921. Under his leadership this program attracted nation-wide attention and elevated the State's dairy industry from obscurity to a position of leadership in the Nation. It also earned him the title "Mr. DHIA".

In addition to his many other accomplishments for the dairy industry, Eddy was one of the most highly regarded judges of dairy cattle in the Nation, having judged most of the leading dairy shows in the United States as well as the National Dairy Show in Bogota, Colombia, in 1949. He also served as a consultant to the Holstein-Friesian Association of America and the National Holstein Association of Colombia.

At the annual meeting of the American Dairy Science Association in 1953, Eddy Gordon received the "DeLaval Award" for the most outstanding Extension Dairyman in the United States.

He gave unselfishly of his time in working with young people interested in agriculture, particularly with 4-H and Future Farmer boys and girls.

Following his death on May 29, 1959, a resolution paying tribute to the memory of Gillette Edward Gordon was adopted by the California State Senate on June 9, 1959.