Gordon Ernest Kershaw, of Kennebunk, passed away on Jan. 22, 2023, at the Maine Veterans Home in Scarborough. He was born at home on May 5, 1928, in Sanford, to Clifford and Violet (Gilpin) Kershaw.
Gordon grew up in Sanford. He graduated from the University of Maine, Orono, before serving as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army during the Korean conflict. While teaching in western Massachusetts, he earned a master’s degree in American history from Boston University. He then taught high school history for 18 years in Lexington, Massachusetts. A colleague encouraged him to return to school for his PhD in early American culture, which degree he was awarded by the University of Pennsylvania. He joined the faculty of Frostburg State University in 1971, where he served as head of the history department for many years. His US colonial history courses were popular with students, but as an anglophile at heart, he loved teaching his Tudor-Stuart England course. He retired in 1999.
Gordon loved a good historical mystery and published his research about the historical location of Braddock’s gold in Allegany County: a history, which he co-authored with several colleagues. He also wrote about the founding of the state of Maine by the Boston proprietors in “The Kennebeck Proprietors: 1749-1775.” His “James Bowdoin: Patriot and Man of the Enlightenment” accompanied a catalogue from an exhibition honoring James Bowdoin II at Bowdoin College’s Museum of Art.
Gordon and his wife Carolyn retired to Kennebunk in 2005 where they made many close friends as members of St. David’s Episcopal Church and the Newcomers Club. Gordon was a member of several social groups, including the Wednesday afternoon bridge group.
He was predeceased by his sister, Joanne McKeage, and brother, Gilbert.
He is survived by his wife of 46 years, Carolyn, his daughter Christina and her husband Simon Rule of Montclair, New Jersey, and grandchildren Nathan and Evelyn Rule, as well as his sister Patricia and her husband George Emery of Kennebunkport.
Visitation will take place from 2 to 4 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 17, 2023, at Bibber Memorial Chapel, 67 Summer St., Kennebunk. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023, at St. David’s Episcopal Church, 138 York St., Kennebunk.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Maine Veterans Home, 290 Route 1, Scarborough, ME 04074; the Animal Welfare Society, 46 Holland Road, Kennebunk, ME 04043; or Saint David’s Episcopal Church, 138 York St., Kennebunk, ME 04043.
To leave a message of condolence, please visit Gordon’s Book of Memories at www.bibberfuneral.com.
Arrangements are entrusted to Bibber Memorial Chapel, 67 Summer St., Kennebunk.
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