Elizabeth Lyons Gordon

Elizabeth Lyons Howkins Tarkington Gordon, 57, of Metairie, LA., formerly of Pascagoula, MS., died Saturday, March 12, 2011 after a lengthy illness. Born September 7, 1953 in Pascagoula, she was the daughter of John Smallbrook and Virgina Ruth Lyons Howkins. Mrs. Gordon was a 1971 graduate of Pascagoula High School and a 1975 graduate of Millsaps College, Jackson, MS, where she obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry. She was a member of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Pascagoula, MS.

After holding several chemistry-related positions, including one at the Tulane Primate Center in Covington, LA, Mrs. Gordon became the editorial assistant for the Neuroscience Center at the LSU Health Science Center in 1993, followed by editorial positions within the same institution in the departments of orthopedics, pediatrics, and ophthalmology. In 2008 she accepted a position as a grants administrator at the University of New Orleans in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, where she aided faculty in assembling and submitting grant applications to the National Institutes of Health.

Mrs. Gordon is survived by her husband of 12 years, Dr. William C. Gordon (LSU Neuroscience Center and Department of Opthalmology), one son, Matthew B. Tarkington, a senior at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and his father, Jeffrey H. Tarkington of Madisonville, LA, and he sister Mary A. Howkins of Pembroke Pines, FL. Also surviving are the children of her husband and their families, W. Georffrey and Rachel H. Gordon of Cockysville, MD and Michelle G. and Michael Marcellino of Laurel, MD and their children Michael and Michaela. Mrs. Gordon was preceded in death by her parents and her son, Christopher Lyons Tarkington.

A memorial service will take place at the Tharp-Sontheimer-Tharp Funeral Home in Metairie, LA at a later date. The family suggests memorials be made to the American Cancer Society in New Orleans.