Gordon Kingsmill Glass

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with great sorrow the death of former employee Gordon Kingsmill Glass, who died in Seattle, WA, due to complications following a heart attack on April 13, 2026.  He was 81.

The elder son of David and Harriet “Happy” Glass, Gordon grew up in the West Hartford, Connecticut area, attending Amity Regional High School. He joined the US Air Force out of high school and went to SE Asia. Following the war, he moved to Burlington, Vermont, to attend Champlain College.

Later, Gordon moved to Massachusetts and began working at WHOI in 1972 as a Lab Assistant in the Ocean Engineering Department. He was promoted several times during his tenure and in 1976, he became the  Department Executive Assistant. In that capacity, he flew to Newfoundland in 1985 to receive the film of the discovery of the Titanic from Bob Ballard. He left in 1987 and relocated to Seattle, WA, and the Applied Physics Lab at the University of Washington, where he was the Executive Assistant to the Director until his retirement in 2011. In retirement, Gordon became a potter, particularly enjoying wood-firing clay.  He eventually settled in Gulfport, Florida.

Gordon is survived by his son Ben (Jen) of WA and his daughter Jill (Jason) of MA, of whom he was very proud, and two grandchildren he adored, Antonio and Elizabeth of MA, sister Nancy (Spyro) Angelopoulos of CT, and brother Dickson (Mary) Glass of VT. He leaves his nieces and nephews, Hilary Ann Love Glass and Matthew (Lindsey Willis) Glass of VT, Margo (Diana Davis) Angelopoulos of NH, Athanasios “Saki” Angelopoulos of CT, and his cousin Will (Tina) Shakespeare of VT. Great-nieces Poppy Glass and Navy Davis and great-nephew Jacob Angelopoulos also survive him. His extended family includes stepsisters Anne MacLeod of VT and Lauren MacLeod of MA. Gordon is also survived by his former wife, the Rev. Dr. Joyce Caggiano of MA. He leaves his best friends, Mary Gregory, Dicky Allison, Charles Bennet, John and Lydia Miller, his buddies in the Barnyard Bunglers of the Bourne Farm, and his morning crew in Gulfport.

A Celebration of Life is planned in Burlington, VT on August 2, 2026.

Information for this obituary is from the Falmouth Enterprise