Gordon Taylor Pryor, 77

Published 9:03 am Thursday, February 24, 2011

Gordon Taylor Pryor, 77, of Sunnyvale, died Friday Feb. 11.

Gordon was born Aug. 28, 1933, in Los Angeles. He was the oldest of three brothers born to Daniel and Alice Pryor. Sadly, his brothers, Kay (Marcia) and Allan (Karen), have also passed away within the last two years. Gordon died at Kaiser Hospital while bravely recovering after emergency quadruple bypass surgery two days earlier. Gordon lived his entire life in California. He graduated from Compton Union High in 1951 and received a B.A. degree in 1959 from Long Beach state. 1952 he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, serving four years. In 1964, he received a Ph.D. in psychology form the University of California at Berkeley. In 1960, Gordon married Dolores Mallan and in 1964 they moved to Sunnyvale where he began his 30-year career as a research scientist at the Stanford Research Institute in Menlo-Atherton, Calif. In 1982, he received the SRI Fellowship Award. He ended his career in 1996 as the special assistant to the vice president of the life sciences division.

He played trumpet and had a lifelong passion for jazz. He proudly played in the 724th Air Force Marching Band and the De Anza Daddio Jazz Band. He also enjoyed fishing, golf, pool and cheering on the 49ers. He was happiest when reading mysteries, playing Bridge, and attacking Sudoku. He dearly loved his dogs and cats and took pleasure in caring for his parakeets and cockatiels.

Gordon is survived by his wife of 51 years, Dolores; sons, Mark (Anna) and Gregory (Judy); daughter, Christine (Kevin); four grandchildren, Austin, Connor, Taylor, and Carly.

A memorial will be held from 12 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 26, at Lucie Stern Community Center, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, Calif. 94301. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the American Red Cross.