Edward Wilson Gordon, a retired steel inspector and fan of Western novels, died of heart failure Sunday at Keswick Multi-Care Center in Roland Park. He was 84 and lived in Owings Mills.

Born in Owings Mills and reared on West 24th Street in the city, Mr. Gordon was a 1934 graduate of City College and had served in the Maryland National Guard.

He retired in 1979 from Bethlehem Steel Corp.'s Sparrows Point plant, where he had worked for 25 years as a steel inspector.

Mr. Gordon especially enjoyed reading Westerns by Louis L'Amour and novels by Tom Clancy. He was an avid fisherman and Orioles fan.

Services were held yesterday.

He is survived by his wife of 64 years, the former Bertha Berryman; two sons, Edward W. Gordon of Laurel, Del., and Larry W. Gordon of Manchester; three daughters, Vicki L. Ferguson of Eldersburg, Janis Lee Bradley of Sykesville and Judy R. Ward of Mardela Springs; 11 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.