Herbert Gordon, a retired Foreign Service officer who held high-ranking positions in India, died May 19 at his home in Redding, Conn. He was 93.
He had heart disease, said his daughter Anne McLaughlin.
Herbert Gordon, Foreign Service officer
Mr. Gordon joined the State Department in 1947 and became a specialist in Asian political affairs. His overseas postings included New Delhi and Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
In 1968, he became a senior counselor in the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi before he was named consul general in Kolkata. He served four years in Kolkata during a particularly restive period that included the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971. For his leadership, he received the State Department’s Superior Honor Award.
After returning to Washington, he retired in 1975.
Herbert Gordon was born in New York and attended the City College of New York. He served in the Army during World War II.
In retirement, Mr. Gordon served as a consultant for the U.S. Agency for International Development.
He moved to Connecticut from Mitchellville in 2011.
Survivors include his wife of 63 years, Helen Watson Gordon of Redding; two daughters, Anne McLaughlin of Ithaca, N.Y., and Laura Kutnik of Redding Center, Conn.; a sister; and five grandchildren.
— T. Rees Shapiro
