Joseph Frank Gordy Jr., veteran, Gordy Insurance founder
Joseph Frank Gordy Jr., 93, of Georgetown, passed away peacefully at home Friday, Jan. 26, 2024, surrounded by his family. Frank was born in Wilmington, son of Joseph Frank Gordy Sr. and Mary Ellen (Beauchamp) Gordy.
Frank graduated from Georgetown High School in 1948 and attended University of Delaware while working for Henry Graves. Two years later, he married his loving wife, Katherine (Roach) Gordy, Sept. 16, 1950. In May 1951, they moved to Denver, Colo., where Frank served four years in the U.S. Air Force. Upon his discharge from the U.S. Air Force, they returned to the Georgetown area in 1955, where they bought a home on E. Laurel St. Ext. and raised their three children. In 1978, they had a home constructed by students at Sussex Tech that was moved to its current location in the Stockley area, where they have remained since.
Frank worked for several years with the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a survey party leader in the soil conservation service In 1964, he began his lifelong career in the insurance industry with Farm Bureau Insurance Services; and in 1980, began Gordy Insurance Agency. After many years of serving the community’s insurance needs, Frank retired and sold the business to Avery Hall Insurance in 2016. Frank served as an officer in many organizations and for several years as a lobbyist for the insurance industry in the Delaware General Assembly.
Frank was an avid golfer and charter member of Sussex Pines Country Club, where he served in a leadership role until 2019. He and Katherine traveled extensively to New Zealand, the Baltic Sea, Alaska, England, Germany, Russia, Finland, Switzerland, a cruise of the Snake River, Mississippi River Tour, and Vancouver National Park by bus. Because God and the church also played an important role in his life, he was an active member of Wesley United Methodist Church.
In addition to his parents, Frank is preceded in death by his loving wife, Katherine Roach Gordy; a sister, Carolyn Swett; Katherine’s parents, William and Clara (Coverdale) Roach; sister-in-law, Betty Ellingsworth and her husband William; and brother-in-law, Arnold Roach.
Frank is survived by three children, Mary Jane Short and husband Charles K., Joseph Franklin Gordy III and Nancy Beaumont, and William Arnold Gordy and wife Karen; four grandchildren, Charles J. Short and wife Katie, Lana Short, Ryan Gordy and wife Rebecca, and Megan Gordy; three great-grandchildren, Collin, Callie and Charlotte; brother-in-law, Thomas Swett; as well as exchange student, Steve Brocklebank from New Zealand, with whom they shared their home from 1972-73.
A funeral service will be held at 12:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 8, at Wesley United Methodist Church, 102 E. Laurel St., Georgetown, where a time of visitation for family and friends will begin at 11:30 a.m. Interment will follow at 2 p.m., at Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Millsboro.
The family would like to thank Frank’s caregivers for the excellent care they gave their father and grandfather, Penny Sharp, who has been with the family for four years, and Cindy Green.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Wesley United Methodist Church, 102 E. Laurel St., Georgetown, DE 19947; or Delaware Hospice Center, 100 Patriots Way, Milford, DE 19963.
Online condolences are welcome for the family at www.shortfuneralservicesandcremation.com
