Cara S. Gordon

On Saturday, she attended a Chicago concert at the St. George Theatre. On Monday, she picked up an Atari system from a friend and prepared it for shipment to her brother in Florida. She planned to take her niece to a figure-skating session in New Jersey on Wednesday.

Cara passed away Tuesday afternoon in Richmond University Medical Center after she was found unresponsive at her home in St. George.

“There was no indication of a problem, and we are all in shock,” said her brother, Robert, adding that his sister was diabetic but the condition was under control.

That shock reverberated across Staten Island and through social media as the theater and non-profit communities learned of Cara’s untimely death.

“I feel truly blessed to have spent time with her on Saturday, when we shared a big hug,” said Doreen Cugno, co-founder of the St. George Theatre. “She said, ‘I love you,’ and I replied, ‘I love you more.’ I can’t stop crying, and I will miss my dear friend tremendously.”

“Cara was a force of energy and light who inspired support for our arts and cultural community,” said Alfred Cerullo III, president and CEO of the Grand Central Partnership. “She was an amazing leader in our local theater world and beyond. And her sense of humor and delivery were spot on. But this loss goes beyond all of that. No question she was too young to leave this world and my thoughts and prayer go to all her loved ones.”

Born on May 19, 1984, Cara Sharon Liander grew up in Dongan Hills and graduated from Notre Dame Academy High School. She earned a bachelor of arts degree in acting from Boston University in 2006 and an MBA from Wagner College in 2017.

She pursued a lifelong passion for the arts as a local playwright, actor and producer, and as board chair of Staten Island Shakespearean Theatre Company. She supported countless organizations with her passion and creativity, including the Staten Island Ballet, the Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden and the Staten Island Zoo.

Cara was a frequent guest at Staten Island fund-raisers, making the rounds through each venue to greet her many friends with a wide smile and a warm embrace.

“She loved people in a way that was rare and radiant -- fully, selflessly, joyously and with her whole heart,” summarized longtime friend Toni-Ann Fischetti.

Cara met her future husband, John Gordon, at the Beans & Leaves coffee shop on Forest Avenue.

“That’s where it all started,” he said Thursday, tearing up. “I worked there and she was a customer. I was wearing a Boston Red Sox hat that first day. She struck up a conversation -- and then she started showing up day after day.”

The couple was married on Sept. 19, 2014 in St. Peter’s R.C. Church, New Brighton, with a reception at Snug Harbor and a honeymoon to Thailand.

Always up for a new adventure, Cara enjoyed following the Mets, attending Bruce Springsteen concerts and playing occasional rounds of golf. She also liked to walk her 2-year-old Golden Doodle, Charlie, along the Royal Oak Road paths in Castleton Corners, greeting other dog-walkers along the way with her signature smile.

“To know her was to love her,” said her husband, John. “She made everyone around her better. To be compared to her would be the greatest accomplishment anyone could hope for.”

In addition to her husband, John, and brother, Robert (Maria Rusolo), Cara is survived by a brother, Colin (Sandy Trullinger); a niece, Viola; her mother, Sharon; her in-laws, Anne and Jack Gordon, and her brothers-in-law, Daniel and Christian Gordon. Her father, Robert, died in 2016.

Visitation services will be held at Casey Funeral Home, located at 350 Slosson Ave, Staten Island, NY, 10314, on the following dates and times: November 10, 2025, from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm, and November 11, 2025, from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm, and again from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm.

The funeral service is scheduled for November 12, 2025, at St. Charles Roman Catholic Church, 644 Clawson St, New York, NY, 10306, from 10:15 am to 11:15 am.

The committal service will take place at St. Peters Cemetery, 52 Tyler Ave, New York, NY, 10310, on November 12, 2025, from 11:45 am to 12:00 pm.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Staten Island Shakespearean Theatre Company.