LCDR Gibbs was PPC of Crew 6 and served as Assistant Operations Officer and then Operations Officer.
Burial will be in Ft Barancas National Cemetery in NAS Pensacola, FL 11:30 am on April 19, 2019.
Lieutenant Commander Thomas Edwin Gibbs, Sr. (1/14/1924 -10/02/2018) passed away at the age of 94. Born in Maggie, WV to Robert Earl Gibbs and Mary Belle Ball Gibbs, Ed spent his childhood on his grandfather’s farm near Point Pleasant, WV. Attending West Virginia University, he dropped out to join the Navy in 1942, entering the flight program. He earned his wings and remained in the Navy for a 30- year career. After retiring, he was re-activated for two years as a jet pilot instructor with VT-7 at NAS Meridian, MS, training pilots for the Vietnam War, and was named
Instructor of the Year recognized for 10,000 accident-free flying hours. He also spent two years as Operations Officer for Glenview Naval Air Station. After retiring again from the Navy in 1971, he was a real estate agent in Libertyville, IL until moving to Cape Coral, FL in 1980. He was predeceased by his first wife, Elizabeth, daughter Margaret, and second wife Aldine. He is survived by his son in Flint, TX, his daughter in Tampa, FL, his step-daughter in Conyers, GA and three grandchildren. Burial was in Ft. Barrancas National Cemetery in NAS Pensacola, FL on April 19, 2019.
As a boy growing up along the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers, he enjoyed day-long bicycle rides from Point Pleasant to Charleston and Huntington. His maternal grandfather settled a farm in the area the government took over in WWII as a TNT reservation north of Point Pleasant, now infamous as the location of the “Mothman”. For Ed, it was a wonderful place for growing up, finding arrowheads in the plowed fields, wandering streams and the hills above the farm, and no scary monsters.
Ed’s introduction to flying was classic 1930’s, provided by a barnstormer who flew the Ohio River, stopping at small towns along the river to give rides in his bi-plane, for a price, of course. One flight was all it took to hook Ed’s imagination, and his love of flying would last all of his life. He was a born pilot, with excellent eyesight, coordination, endurance, and a marvelous sense of adventure tempered with a strong sense for safety.
Ed was a loving husband and father and a loyal friend. He enjoyed an array of exciting activities, including flying, sailing, camping, photography, RV travel around the country and long car trips, reading, and searching for buried treasure with his metal detector, He trained to be a real estate agent, a locksmith, and a notary. He was a certified weather-watcher (a natural for a pilot) and a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary.
Ed made contributions to many organizations, including the Veterans of Foreign Wars (vfw.org), Disabled American Veterans (dav.org), United Services Organization (uso.org), the American Legion (legion.org), AMVETS (lots of independent local chapters), and National Audubon Society (audubon.org). As a veteran, he was very proud of his Naval career and cared very deeply about the military community.
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