Gordon was born in
Stratford in 1927, the third son of doctors William Patteson Pollock Gordon and
Doris Clifton Gordon (née Jolly) who ran a medical practice and the small Marire private hospital in Stratford. His older brother was
Peter Gordon. He was educated at
Nelson College from 1941 to 1944 and the
University of Otago, from where he graduated MB ChB in 1951. He then trained and worked as a surgeon in the United Kingdom, returning to the family practice in Stratford in October 1957. In 1999, Gordon sold his medical practice but retained his involvement in local health issues and patient care until shortly before his death in 2004. ==References==