Murray Gordon

Murray Gordon

Murray Gordon passed away July 6, 2020 at the age of 94 at home in Piedmont. He was surrounded by loving family and passed after heart disease which had dogged him for years finally caught up with him.
Murray was born in Lithuania, knew how to speak at least five languages and was only 15 when the Nazis invaded and turned the life of everyone he knew into a living hell. Almost everyone in his family was killed by the Nazis except his father and one cousin. He was a proud Holocaust survivor, joining the Jewish Partisans at 16 and eventually being sent to Dachau concentration camp with his father who miraculously also survived. The experience was unimaginable, unforgettable and haunted his dreams throughout his life. A man of good cheer, he didn't let the experience embitter him during the rest of his life. He spent time in his later years speaking to groups about his Holocaust experience and making it real for those who had never met a person who had lived through the horrors.
Being an optimist, Murray healed physically after the war, attended University of Munich and studied advanced Electrical Engineering before emigrating to the United States with his father Jacob and step mother Rachel in 1949. He lived in New York City for a year, improved his English by watching Hop Along Cassidy on television, and made his way to California where he met and married the love of his life, Janet Markus Gordon. They were married for over 68 years and had three daughters, six grandchildren and nine great grandchildren. It gave Murray great pride to celebrate the weddings of all six of his grandchildren and welcome their children into the big family he and Janet created. Being with his family was his greatest joy and he appreciated how everyone spent so much time together at the family home in Piedmont right up until the end.
Trained as an electrical engineer and starting out in an electronics business, he joined his father- in law's company C. Markus Hardware after the birth of his first child in 1953 and with his hard work and vision, the company grew into a large home center and hardware store with multiple locations, He worked for years in partnership with his brother-in-law Richard Arnold and retired from the business when it closed on 1993.
While President at Markus Hardware, Murray was passionate about developing real estate and started doing so in the early 1960s. He built large residential properties and included other family members in his projects, sharing a successful and growing portfolio with his family.
Murray was very active in the Jewish Community, at Temple Sinai for over sixty years, and gave his time and expertise to other groups including Easter Seals, various other boards and organizations that benefitted from his practicality and direct approach. He was proud to help secure the property for the first local Jewish museum, the Judah Magnes Museum in Berkeley.
He was an early ham radio operator, a great tennis player, a collector of all things electronic, an early devotee of Apple computers, a reader of fiction, philosophy, physics and the cosmos, a camera and photography buff and a great friend to many.
Murray was sensitive, generous and kind. He was genuine and never put on airs. He loved being silly and to joke around with everybody. Murray and Janet traveled extensively around the world until he was in his mid eighties enjoying trips on their own, with friends and with their children. The family had glorious annual Tahoe vacations and Murray enjoyed riding bikes with his children and grandchildren along the Truckee River until very late in life.
Murray and Janet enjoyed spending winters in Palm Desert and La Quinta for more than twenty five years after retirement, playing tennis, making friends, enjoying the sunshine and desert life.
Murray is survived by his beloved wife Janet, daughters Kathy Burge, Shelley Gordon and Claudia Felson, son-in laws Michael Burge and Richard Burge (Kathy and Shelley married brothers!) grandchildren Jason Burge (Rachel); Adam Felson (Leah); Blake Felson (Ashley);Kari Burge (Michael Lampert) David Burge (Julia Feldman) and Joseph Burge (Cara) and great grandchildren Dylan, Owen, Jeremy, Mia, Ally, Wesley, Levvy, Kylie and Asher. He also leaves nieces and nephews who loved him and many friends of all ages.
Murray was the most wonderful husband father and grandfather anyone could ever have wished for. He was generous, loving, funny, kind, and will be mourned, missed, loved and remembered forever.
A special thanks to Feauini Manu and Ame Feleti for giving loving round- the-clock care at his home in the last six weeks of his life, and for nephew Dr. Steven Arnold, Murray's cardiologist whose excellent care kept him living well for years with serious heart disease.
Murray will be laid to rest at a private burial due to Covid 19 restrictions.
Donations in Murray's memory may be made to the Alameda County Food Bank, the Oakland Zoo or Temple Sinai.