Lois Estelle Gordon

Lois Gordon, beloved mother, grandmother and great grandmother passed away on Wednesday April 8th, 2026, at the age of 93. She was born in Cleveland, Ohio to Alex and Bessie Gordon. She is survived by her daughters Shayna Gamedze, Nancy Reghay, Tracey Segarra, Julie Miller, and her son Gordon Miller. She was a cherished grandmother to Nayomi and David Reghay, Jessica and Jay Segarra, Menachem and Shoshana Gamedze, and an adoring great-grandmother to Eva and Raaya Reghay.

After graduating with a B.A. from Wayne State University, Lois pursued her lifelong love of theatre by moving to New York City where she studied at The American Theatre Wing with Lee Strasberg and Frank Corsaro and found work as an actress in radio shows such as Our Gal Sunday, The Lone Ranger, Ma Perkins, and NBC Monitor (Brigadoon)-Richard Rodgers, on TV in Joe and Mabel, directed by Ezra Stone and The Guy Lombardo Show, on stage in summer stock and regional theatre and Off-Broadway in Perchance to Dream at the Amato Theatre and Troilus and Cressida at City Center, and on film in Windjammer and Sweet Smell of Success. She met her soon to be husband Bob Miller, an aspiring comedian and the two quickly formed a loving bond and an act, performing as a comic duo known as "Gordon and Miller” in nightclubs in Chicago, Detroit, The Catskills, and Montreal, before marrying and settling down to raise five children.

A memorable highlight of this period was when Lois was cast in the chorus of Moss Hart and Ezra Stone's "First Night's Ball, A Tribute to Helen Hayes' 50 Years in the Theatre" at the Waldorf Astoria, was asked to stand in as an understudy for Helen Hayes during dress rehearsals, and while sitting in the throne Helen Hayes would later occupy, came face to face with one of her idols, Mary Martin, singing directly to her (as she would later for Ms. Hayes), bringing Lois overwhelmed tears of joy, a modicum of embarrassment, and a personal thank you letter days later, directly from Moss Hart, which she proudly framed and kept as a cherished keepsake.

Lois then earned her M.A. from City College of NY and became a beloved high school English and Drama teacher, gaining lifelong loyalty from the many students she inspired and introduced to theatre through the many acclaimed plays she directed at Flushing High School. She galvanized several new generations of theatre lovers by obtaining group discount tickets and taking hundreds of her students and her children to see Broadway shows as often as possible through her association with TDF, The Theatre Development Fund.

After retiring as a teacher, Lois was honored to serve for more than a decade as a docent for The Museum of Jewish Heritage, A Living Holocaust Memorial, leading many student group tours.

The Funeral will be at Mount Olive Cemetery in Cleveland on Sunday April 12th at 1:30 PM. Shiva will follow from 4PM to 7PM at the home of Dr. Marc and Elizabeth Fried, 6467 Laura Lane, Solon, Ohio.

Additionally, the family will sit Shiva on Tuesday, April 14th at the home of Gordon Miller, 250 Mercer Street B1101, New York, NY from 2PM to 6PM, with a Minyan at 5pm, and on Wednesday, April 15th from 2PM to 7PM at the home of Fred and Tracey Segarra, 12 Harvard Lane, Hewlett, NY.

If anyone wishes to honor Lois' memory by giving Tzedakah, her favorite charities were The Museum of Jewish Heritage, the World Wildlife Fund, and Habitat for Humanity.