By Deborah Larsen
Gordon Theodore Trevethan
Gordon Theodore Trevethan was born in Ahmeek, Michigan, on October 13, 1916, the son of Simeon and Jessie Radabaugh Trevethan. Gordon grew up in Rochester and attended Rochester High School, graduating in the class of 1937. After high school, he worked at Cadillac Motor Car Company in Detroit. He married Erlene Ladd of Shelby Township in 1942.
During the early years of the war, Gordon worked as a civilian flight instructor at the U.S. Navy’s pre-flight training facility in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. In December 1944, he entered the U.S. Army, one of four Trevethan brothers to serve in uniform. He was assigned to the Army’s Air Transport Command and stationed in Reno, Nevada. Gordon was released from military service in July 1946.
After the war, Gordon and his family lived in Waterford, where he operated an airplane rental company at Pontiac-Oakland Airport and worked as a pilot. On December 7, 1973, Gordon was killed when a twin-engine airplane he was piloting crashed after takeoff at a Pittsburgh airport.
Gordon Theodore Trevethan died at age 57 on December 7, 1973, and was laid to rest at White Chapel Cemetery.