The Randolph Society Foundation Board is pleased to announce that Eileen Gordon, who was dedicated to telling the stories of Chester residents and championing causes that improved their lives, will be inducted as the third and final honoree of our 2026 class.
Eileen Pariset Gordon was born in October 1925 in Red Bud. She was raised by her mother, Grace Hasemeyer Pariset, and her grandparents on Ann Street in Chester, attending St. John’s Lutheran School and Chester High School. There, she experienced her first taste of life as a journalist when she signed up to work as a typist on the school yearbook, the Summit.
Eileen graduated in the spring of 1944, just weeks before D-Day. After graduation, she pitched in to do her patriotic duty, volunteering with the county’s Selective Service Board and War Price and Rationing Board. The skills she honed while volunteering prepared her well for several early secretarial jobs, including work at the law office of John S. Gilster, Chester’s city attorney.
In the autumn of 1949, Eileen married Jack Gordon, and a year later they welcomed their son, John. They raised him in Chester, and Eileen became an involved and active parent, serving on the PTL at St. John’s Lutheran School and becoming a Cub Scout leader.
When John went to school, Eileen joined the staff of the Randolph County Herald-Tribune. The job turned into a career, and it would end up being one of the defining roles of her life. She worked as a reporter and correspondent, and eventually she became the paper’s editor. The Southern Illinoisan noted that Eileen “believed strongly in the importance of the small town newspaper, and through the years, she became the ‘face’ of the newspaper as she reported the local and regional news for the people of Randolph County.”
Reporting on local news made Eileen keenly aware of needs that existed within the community, and she became involved with numerous charitable causes. She was a devoted member of St. John’s Lutheran Church and was the first woman to serve on its church council. Her volunteer work with the American Red Cross in the 1960s and 1970s spanned the Vietnam War. As the wife of a veteran, she was also an active member of Chester’s American Legion and VFW Auxiliaries. For three decades, she served on the board of directors for Chester’s Memorial Hospital, including 14 years as board chair.
Eileen’s pride in her hometown was expressed through her work with organizations like the Chester Beautification Commission. She was a partner in numerous efforts to restore important historical properties, most notably the Cohen House. With Bertha Mae Blechle and Edna Cress, Eileen helped to shepherd the restoration project that turned the 1850s home into one of the jewels of Chester’s riverfront. The Cohen Memorial Home played a central role in another of Eileen’s gifts to local residents: the Christmas on the River celebration, which she helped to organize for the community each December.
Time and again, the people of Chester recognized Eileen for her community work. She was named Chester’s Citizen of the Year in 1980, and she received similar honors from organizations like the VFW, the Chester Women’s Club, and the Chester Jaycees. In 1999, she received one of the highest honors that any citizen of Chester can get when she was selected as a Popeye Parade Marshall.
Eileen passed away in July 2013 at the age of 87. She was remembered as a talented writer and journalist and an outstanding citizen of her community and the wider region. Her lifelong commitments to the people and the history of Chester and Randolph County have endured even after her death, and her heart for others is an example and a challenge to us all.
The Randolph Society 