Business View Magazine
3
summers enjoying the plea-
sures of lake boating, Gordon
turned to his wife, Jean, and
told her that he wasn’t going
to go back to his automobile
sales job in Illinois. Jean, who
had always wanted to live
away from the city, anyway,
did not protest.
“He decided that he want-
ed to stay at the lake,” says
Whowell. “He loved people, he loved having fun, and he loved boats. So Grandpa Gordy
moved up here and bought a home just south of the lake and bought lakefront property
on the west end. It was an old railroad depot. They used to cut ice blocks out of the lake
in the wintertime and put them on railcars to take away. He started running his boat ride
operation out of there.”
Gordy began his business giving boat rides on the first craft he bought, a 1932 wooden
speed boat. At the time, the only other boats on the lake were small fishing boats and
classic sailing vessels. The modern speed boat was an exciting novelty that the lake’s
summer visitors were more than happy to pay a dollar for. Gordy’s motto at the time was
“A millionaire’s thrill for one small bill.” He soon added a second boat, a 1948 woody
named “Effie,” which Whowell says, the company still owns.
“It really grew from there. Instead of giving boat rides, he was one of the first to be an en-
AT A GLANCE
WHO:
Gordy’s Lakefront Marine
WHAT:
A diversified boat sales, rental, and service
company
WHERE:
Fontana, Wisconsin
WEBSITE
:
