PORT O’CONNOR – Franklin “Davis” Gordon, 81, of Port O’ Connor, passed away on Monday, April 17, 2017. He was born on July 14, 1935 to the late Alfred S. and Florence Amanda Durham Gordon in Tchula, Mississippi.Davis graduated from the Hermann School of Physical Therapy in Houston.
Davis established Physical Therapy Services in Port Lavaca which provided physical therapy services to hospitals throughout the mid Gulf Coast region. He later incorporated into Gulf Coast Rehabilitation with its subsidiary Excel Sports Therapy. He continued to provide physical therapy on a contract and individual basis after selling the company in 1997.
Highlights of his physical therapy career included providing pro bono physical therapy services under the auspices of Doctors Without Borders to wounded juveniles from Afghanistan who were staying at Devereux Foundation Center in Victoria after the Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan in 1980, and being twice honored by his peers in the Texas Physical Therapy Association. In 1993, Davis received the Ruby Decker Award for Outstanding Physical Therapist of Texas and was the recipient of the Warren C. Smyth Award for Outstanding Private Practice Service in 1994.
Davis was an avid sportsman and outdoorsman with his pursuits ranging from college football in Mississippi and a short stint with the Pittsburgh Steelers to fishing and hunting throughout Mississippi, Louisiana, Nebraska, and Texas. While hunting pheasant in Nebraska, Davis discovered a hunting dog like none he had ever seen before, the German Wirehaired Pointer. After arranging to bring back a puppy to Texas, he raised, bred, and hunted the pointers. His love of fishing led him to build his own boat which he later launched as a line of shallow running boats called El Pescador.
Davis is survived by his loving wife, Karen; daughter Stacy and her husband Johnny Meza of Port Lavaca; sons, Davis Gordon of Lake Jackson and Mitchell Gordon of Atlanta, Georgia; stepson, Keith Pevoto of New Braunfels; grandson John Mark Moeller of Port Lavaca; and nephews Al and John Gordon of Corpus Christi.
In addition to his parents, Davis is preceded in death by his brother Alfred S. Gordon, Jr.
A Celebration of Davis’ life will be held at the Port O’Connor Community Center on June 3, 2017 at 2:00 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the donor’s charity of choice.
