Gordon Philip Polley, 78, of Guilford and New York City, died at Smilow Cancer Hospital on Nov. 16.  He was the husband of 47 years to Jane Polley. He was born on Independence Day, 1933, son of the late Harold and Elsa Polley. Gordon attended Hampton Academy and then Cornell University, from which he graduated in 1956.

A real live nephew of his Uncle Sam, Gordon served in the U.S. Navy from 1956 to 1959, mainly as an intelligence officer in West Germany. A source of lasting pride, he found his naval experience extremely rewarding, and the skills he acquired invaluable. He remained in the Naval Reserve until 1967.  The stories of his adventures in the Navy and his travels with his wife in the Soviet Union of the 1960s, among others, will remain staples of family lore for many generations.

Following active service, Gordon attended Harvard Business School, from which he graduated in 1961. This opened the door to a life of entrepreneurship, from his early days in the financial world of New York, to ownership of a small manufacturing concern, to the establishment of several biotech companies. These included the Branford-based Institutes for Pharmaceutical Discovery, which Gordon founded with two partners in 1995. Gordon was very passionate about the firm and remained active in his role as chairman at IPD until his death at age 78.

Gordon was as active in his personal life as in his professional one. He loved the sea, especially Long Island Sound, on and in which he would boat, fish, sail, SCUBA dive, and kayak at every opportunity. He was an avid sailor and belonged to both the Sachem’s Head and New York Yacht Clubs. At the former, he founded the racing fleet of Sonar sailboats that is active to this day. In recognition, his fellow competitors presented him with a bowl inscribed, “ Gordon Polley. Founding Father. Persistence Pays.”

Gordon loved to travel the world, from the most remote wilderness areas to the most sophisticated global capitals. He was equally excited to catch fish in an Argentinian stream, and to eat fish in a Parisian salon.

The foods of the world were, in fact, another of Gordon’s passions, and he was a talented chef interested in cuisines from Mexico to China, and everywhere in-between, a passion and skill that he passed on to both of his sons. His talents as a gardener provided ample bounty for his culinary efforts, and he was able to grow a wide variety of vegetables remarkable for both their quality and their quantity. His specialty was exotic varieties of hot peppers, which he was able to grow in profusion, even in the short Connecticut summer.

Gordon was an avid sports fan, and his favorite teams reflected the movements of his life: he retained his boyhood love for the Boston Red Sox, held season tickets for the New York Giants since their days before the Yale Bowl, and, in later years, became a fervent supporter of the championship UConn women’s basketball team.  Among the highlights of his love of sports was his attendance at the Giants’ first SuperBowl win in Pasadena in January of 1987, where he was captured on film raising a champagne glass with tears of joy in his eyes.

His gifts as an amateur photographer served him well both in his travels and at home, and he leaves behind many memories for his family in the pictures he took.

Gordon is recalled fondly by innumerable friends and colleagues around the world, and by fellow members of the many institutions of which he was an important and active part.

His family is very grateful to the able staffers at Smilow for their care and effort, and the many VNA staffers who helped with his therapy and care. They also especially thank Martin Keniry for his extraordinary aid and kindness during Gordon’s illness.

Besides his wife, Gordon is survived by his brother Robert; his sons, Tom and Hal; his daughters-in-law, Jessica and Leonor; and his grandchildren, Annie, Tom’s daughter, and Diego, Hal’s son. He was thrilled by the birth of his grandchildren quite late in his life and took great pleasure in their company.