Derrick Gordon

Derrick Gordon, 87, died on December 2, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C., just six weeks after being diagnosed with an aggressive non-Hodgkin's B-cell lymphoma. He was caring, gentle, and warm. To know him was to love him; it was impossible not to. He was a good man, a family man; someone who hand built his world — and ours — with kindness, joy, and intention. Derrick was born in Jamaica, in 1938, and was raised in the small town of Highgate. Even as a boy, he was a tinkerer. He could be found playing with his favorite Meccano erector set or crafting a piece of driftwood into a lamp. He dreamt of life outside Jamaica and later moved to Canada to study engineering at McGill University, a place where his curiosity began to meet structure and discipline. In 1971, he moved to New York City, where he earned a bachelor’s in architecture from City College and a master’s in civil engineering from Manhattan College. Those degrees suited him perfectly: equal parts imagination and precision. Just a year after moving to the U.S., Derrick met Thelma: a tall, regal woman whose grace drew him in from across the room. During the very last song at a party, he asked her to dance, and she moved with him as though they’d been partners for years. A few days later, he asked her on a date to a popular supper club, Pembles — the start of a courtship that never ended. Derrick would go on dancing with her, and dating her in his own attentive, steady ways, for the next five decades. Derrick and Thelma married in 1975, living in Little Ferry, Oakland, and Byram, N.J., as they raised three children. In addition to being a loving husband, Derrick was a present and involved father: helping with school work, cheering at performances and games, leading thoughtful Sunday dinner discussions, and fostering a love for music. Though family always came first, Derrick also had a successful career. He spent 34 years working out of Newark Airport for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He held a variety of roles — draftsman, planner, project manager, and program manager — before retiring in 2005. In 2011, Derrick and Thelma moved to Cary, N.C., to live out their golden years. They spent their days enjoying friends, music, and theatre; volunteering to get out the vote; visiting their five grandchildren on both coasts; and taking cruises all over the world. Derrick remained strong and active until the end: swimming, exercising, doing pilates, and walking daily. If you met him on a walk, he was easily recognizable by his handsome smile, dignified white beard, and cheerful stride. Derrick carried a sparkle in his eye that made you feel welcome the moment he looked your way. He delighted in sharing anything he had figured out, and just as eagerly delighted in hearing about what fascinated you. He nurtured people with his genuine interest in them, just as tenderly as he nurtured the little lizards that appeared on his doorstep or the birds that alighted on his bath and feeder — quiet acts of care that revealed the gentleness at his core. There was a warmth and charm about him that made every interaction feel like a small gift. He loved to laugh and was every bit as sweet as the milkshakes he loved to make. Derrick was nothing if not inquisitive. His calling card was the pen and paper in his breast pocket, which he carried everywhere so he could write down curiosities and questions. As he would say: “All that glitters is not gold but should be observed.” Be it genealogy or geography, he was a researcher at heart; he wanted to understand how everything worked — and why. Something as simple as a new flower could send him down a curiosity rabbit hole. His passion for learning was enriched by his love of travel, through which he explored the history, people, and cultures of places like China, Japan, Egypt, Tunisia, Estonia, and Denmark. Derrick valued the art of the handmade, and had the creativity, know-how, and dedication to craft almost anything. He built treehouses and bunk beds, Christmas ornaments and Halloween decorations, bird baths and beautiful gardens. He selflessly and consistently showed up for his family in ways big and small: designing his mother-in-law’s salon, writing poems on birthdays, shoveling the driveway solo so everyone else could stay cozy. There was never any question about how much Derrick loved his family: He demonstrated his devotion every day and in every way. Love, to him, was a verb — something you built, fixed, carried, or wrote. Derrick will be remembered for the time he freely gave to others. For his resemblance to Sean Connery, and for the Jamaican lilt that he never lost. For his steadfast and endearing personality, and for the meticulous way he did everything, including cutting grapefruit. For his big, enveloping hugs. For his love of French onion soup. For the bananas foster he made at the dinner table. For being one in a million: the blueprint of what a husband, father, and man should be. Derrick is predeceased by his mother, father, and stepfather. He is survived by his younger sister; adoring wife; devoted children; and five grandchildren, his greatest joy. A public celebration of life and memorial mass will be held on January 10, 2026 at 1 p.m. at Mother Teresa Catholic Church in Cary, NC. A private family reception will follow. In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes in-memoriam donations to Hurricane Melissa relief through the American Friends of Jamaica.

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Derrick Gordon

May 8, 1938 - December 2, 2025