Stella Gordon, of Glen Cove, who worked in LI defense factory in WWII, dies at 102

Stella Gordon inspected gyroscopes for ships and planes during World War II, and never fell out of love with that era.

As if Turner Classic Movies was comfort cable, she watched it constantly after her husband, Harry Gordon, died about 15 years ago, her family said. "Casablanca" was a favorite, and she adored Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney and other stars whose live performances she saw during and after the war.

Gordon, of Glen Cove, died on Nov. 22. She was 102.

Relatives described her as a child of the Great Depression, a soft-spoken optimist who didn’t look back and never criticized.

Gordon's daughter Barbara Le Dour, of Sea Cliff, remembered how her mother "always gave you a feeling of hope."

Born in Brooklyn, she was the last surviving child of a mother who owned a candy store on the Lower East Side and a father who was a silversmith, relatives said.

As a teenager, Stella met Harry while she worked at the candy store. He was the funny man, she the quieter one. He saw the glass half empty, she saw it full.

They married on Halloween in 1944, during his Army furlough from World War II fighting overseas, said niece Patricia Galante, of Seaford.

While their husbands fought in the war, Stella and two of her sisters lived in Jamaica, Queens, where she would take the bus to the Sperry Corp. defense and electronics factory in Lake Success, relatives said. She worked up to the rank of inspector, ensuring gyroscopes were properly assembled, one of many female employees who replaced men going to war.

"She liked it very much," said son-in-law Joe Brandes, of Glen Cove. "She learned a lot. She was pretty good at math and everything else so she was a good inspector."

After the war, Harry became a graphic artist on advertisements, and she worked as a mother of three and part-time waitress. She couldn’t draw a stick, relatives recalled, but with her math skills, she sat by her husband regularly to calculate how much bigger the ad fonts should be to fit in a space.

Gordon could have been anything she wanted, family members said. When her son, Steven, went to college, she read many of the same books he did so they could discuss them, from Russian author Leo Tolstoy to French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre. Her son died seven years ago.

With her sisters, Gordon conversed about the stock market and politics, Galante said.

"They were interesting, wonderful women," the niece said. "They were vibrant and smart.

Gordon was known among friends and relatives for her cooking skills. They savored her shrimp scampi, kosher chicken soup, beef stew and tomato sauce. "She was really good at all the comfort foods," said her daughter Phyllis Brandes, of Glen Cove.

The Gordons moved to Nassau County about 45 years ago to live with the Brandeses, first in Searingtown, then Sea Cliff and Glen Cove. Gordon learned to drive in her 60s, and the couple went into the New York City frequently for entertainment.

When Harry died, Stella lost much of the joy in living, relatives recalled.

Her niece said she will always be grateful for her aunt’s support as she and her husband adopted five young children over the years.

"Stella came over with presents and all kinds of greetings and never said, ‘Are you out of your mind?’ " Galante said, adding, "My Aunt Stella had the grace and charm of a cultured woman."

In addition to her daughters, she is survived by two grandchildren.

A service was held Nov. 30 at the Whitting Funeral Home in Glen Head. She was cremated.