STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – By all accounts, the past week was as busy as always for Cara Liander Gordon, a 41-year-old playwright and director with a big heart and an effervescent personality.

On Saturday, she attended a Chicago concert at the St. George Theatre. On Monday, she picked up an Atari system from a friend and prepared it for shipment to her brother in Florida. She planned to take her niece to a figure-skating session in New Jersey on Wednesday.

Cara passed away Tuesday afternoon in Richmond University Medical Center after she was found unresponsive at her home in St. George.

“There was no indication of a problem, and we are all in shock,” said her brother, Robert, adding that his sister was diabetic but the condition was under control.

That shock reverberated across Staten Island and through social media as the theater and non-profit communities learned of Cara’s untimely death.

“I feel truly blessed to have spent time with her on Saturday, when we shared a big hug,” said Doreen Cugno, co-founder of the St. George Theatre. “She said, ‘I love you,’ and I replied, ‘I love you more.’ I can’t stop crying, and I will miss my dear friend tremendously.”

“Cara was a force of energy and light who inspired support for our arts and cultural community,” said Alfred Cerullo III, president and CEO of the Grand Central Partnership. “She was an amazing leader in our local theater world and beyond. And her sense of humor and delivery were spot on. But this loss goes beyond all of that. No question she was too young to leave this world and my thoughts and prayer go to all her loved ones.”

Lifelong Staten Islander

Born on May 19, 1984, Cara Sharon Liander grew up in Dongan Hills and graduated from Notre Dame Academy High School. She earned a bachelor of arts degree in acting from Boston University in 2006 and an MBA from Wagner College in 2017.

She pursued a lifelong passion for the arts as a local playwright, actor and producer, and as board chair of Staten Island Shakespearean Theatre Company. She supported countless organizations with her passion and creativity, including the Staten Island Ballet, the Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden and the Staten Island Zoo.

Cara was a frequent guest at Staten Island fund-raisers, making the rounds through each venue to greet her many friends with a wide smile and a warm embrace.

“She loved people in a way that was rare and radiant — fully, selflessly, joyously and with her whole heart,” summarized longtime friend Toni-Ann Fischetti.

Cara met her future husband, John Gordon, at the Beans & Leaves coffee shop on Forest Avenue.

“That’s where it all started,” he said Thursday, tearing up. “I worked there and she was a customer. I was wearing a Boston Red Sox hat that first day. She struck up a conversation — and then she started showing up day after day.”

The couple was married on Sept. 19, 2014 in St. Peter’s R.C. Church, New Brighton, with a reception at Snug Harbor and a honeymoon to Thailand.

Always up for a new adventure, Cara enjoyed following the Mets, attending Bruce Springsteen concerts and playing occasional rounds of golf. She also liked to walk her 2-year-old Golden Doodle, Charlie, along the Royal Oak Road paths in Castleton Corners, greeting other dog-walkers along the way with her signature smile.

“To know her was to love her,” said her husband, John. “She made everyone around her better. To be compared to her would be the greatest accomplishment anyone could hope for.”

Survivors and arrangements

In addition to her husband, John, and brother, Robert (Maria Rusolo), Cara is survived by a brother, Colin (Sandy Trullinger); a niece, Viola; her mother, Sharon; her in-laws, Anne and Jack Gordon, and her brothers-in-law, Daniel and Christian Gordon. Her father, Robert, died in 2016.

Funeral arrangements are pending, and will be handled by Casey Funeral Home, Castleton Corners.

A complete profile will follow in the Advance/SILive.com.

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