It is with great sorrow that we announce the passing of beloved husband, father, brother, uncle, grandfather, and friend Gordon Edward Thompson, 75, of Binghamton, NY. Gordon passed away peacefully in his home surrounded by his wife and sons on Sunday, September 28, 2025, from complications due to Carcinoid Syndrome, a cancer which he battled courageously for over 22 years.

Gordon was born on June 23, 1950 in Binghamton, NY to Edward and Nancy Thompson. The oldest of three boys, Gordon grew up in Binghamton, and spent his childhood playing sports, particularly baseball, and passing time at the Boys and Girls Club. He met the love of his life, Jacqueline Thompson (née Cooper), in middle school while helping move her desk to the back of the class, preventing her from disrupting the class due to her social nature. Little did they know, it was the beginning of 62 beautiful years together. Gordon was an incredibly gifted student, finishing second in his class at North High School, and often received disciplinary reprimands for “helping” his friends complete their own schoolwork. His superb intellect won him a full scholarship to an Ivy League school, but he instead chose to follow his future wife to the University of Albany, where he founded a fraternity and was elected President of his senior class. In his role as class President he had the opportunity to host and have lunch with his favorite author, Kurt Vonnegut.

After finishing first in his class at Albany, Gordon earned a scholarship to the prestigious University of Virginia (UVA) law school, scoring only two points shy of a perfect score on his LSAT examination. At Virginia, he was editor of The Law Review and a member of UVA’s top moot court competition team. He was a leader among legal peers, some of whom would go on to clerk at the Supreme Court. He won his first “case” challenging the school administration to bump him up on the list for married housing so his wife could live with him. During this time, he had the opportunity to meet privately with lauded Supreme Court justice, Hon. Thurgood Marshall. In law school, Gordon fell in love with the writings of UVA’s founder Thomas Jefferson, believing strongly in the enlightenment principles that served as the foundation of our great nation. This inspired him to name his first son Jefferson.

Following law school, he turned down offers from prestigious law firms in big cities to return to his home town and serve his community. In his career as a lawyer for Coughlin and Gerhart LLP in Binghamton for over 40 years he dedicated himself to a cause he believed in: the rule of law, believing that this concept of equality under the law set the United States apart from other nations in the world, and was a core principle of the power of the “American experiment”. He specialized in family law, real estate and corporate law but took on any cause he believed was righteous, helping hundreds of local families and friends with all manner of legal advice on a “pro bono” basis. He served as President of the Young Lawyers Section of the New York State Bar Association, and later as President of the Broome County Bar Association.

In his adult life, he became a pillar of his community. He sat on the board of the New York State Boys and Girls Club (BGC) and the Binghamton BGC, the latter for over 35 years. A member of the athletics board at Binghamton University serving as Vice President of the Board of Directors, he helped to grow the fledgling BU sports program to Division I. He mentored BU pre-law students from the baseball program, often encouraging them to prioritize life experiences and travel abroad before delving into a law career. After retirement, he also served on the board of Visions Federal Credit Union.

As a member of the board of the organic farmers association of New York (NOFA), he developed an interest in farming and a late in life hobby of managing a community garden plot with his wife, enjoying their fresh vegetables. He was also part of a team which brought the STOP DWI basketball tournament to Binghamton, which became one of the premier high school basketball tournaments in the country, attracting nationally ranked teams even today. He participated as an assistant coach on the first ever AAU basketball team from the Binghamton area. His lifelong love of little league baseball inspired him to lead a project to erect a scoreboard, install lights and a concessions stand at the field at Recreation Park, enjoyed by many Binghamton youth.

As a father, he spent countless hours pitching baseballs, tossing footballs, rebounding basketballs and driving his sons to various sporting events. His eldest son, Jefferson, became captain of the Johns Hopkins University men’s basketball team, and Gordon and his wife traveled all over the country to attend his games. His younger son, Jordan, was a football and rugby player and Gordon immediately took interest in this new sport, even traveling to Scotland to attend a tournament. He traveled to Kenya with his wife to visit Jefferson who was posted as a diplomat to the U.S. Embassy, and was able to witness the great migration in the Masaai Mara game reserve, and spend time on the beach and the spice markets in Zanzibar. He also traveled to Brazil, and visited Iguaçu Falls - one of the natural wonders of the world where he celebrated the first birthday of his first grandchild, Eleanor.

He loved golf, and was a member of Vestal Hills Country Club for many years, and later Binghamton Country Club, where he and his longtime golf partner Dr. Thomas Crandall, frequently won their golf league. He golfed in Kenya with Jefferson, and visited the hallowed St. Andrews golf course in Scotland with Jordan. He had a passion for Italian food, and happily conducted legal work for friends seeking to open Italian restaurants. He frequently visited favorite haunts in the little Italy neighborhoods of cities such as New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. He had a lifelong love of Yankees baseball which he inherited from his father, and attended games whenever time and his checkbook allowed. He was in the stadium when Aaron Judge hit his first major league homer as a rookie, landing a few feet from where Gordon was sitting. He was also in Yankees stadium for Derek Jeter’s 3000th hit game.

The enduring theme of his life, however, was the dedication and love he had for his wife, and life partner, Jacqueline. The pair were inseparable from the moment they met as middle schoolers and for the next 62 years, including 52 years of marriage. They leaned on and supported each other through all the ups and downs and twists and turns of life, and were together at the end of his purposeful life in the home they built together.

Gordon had a genuine kindness, and unfailingly treated everyone with grace and respect. He was part of a generation of hard-working decent people who believed in transcendent principles and made their community and the people around them better. Anyone who ever met Gordon had an instant role model of how to lead a good life, and how to treat others. His gentle patience, thoughtful discourse, and earnest selflessness will be dearly missed.

Gordon was preceded in death by his beloved parents. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Jacqueline Lee Thompson; sons Jefferson Edward Thompson (Katherine) of Pretoria, South Africa, and Jordan Andrew Thompson of Binghamton, NY; brother Robert Thompson (Sara) of Cary, NC; brother James Thompson of Endwell, NY; and his dear brother-in-law Tim Cooper (Sylvia) of Wayne, NJ. He was a devoted and loving grandfather to Eleanor Jane, Clark Kimball, and Alexander Edward Thompson of Pretoria, South Africa, and adored his niece Alison Cooper Chanfrau (Michael) of Wayne, NJ, and nephew Brian Cooper (Arianna) of Florida.

The family will announce a celebration of life event at a later date.

In lieu of gifts, the family would prefer any donations in Gordon’s name to be made to the Boys And Girls Club of Binghamton.

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