A Funeral Mass for Col. George A. Gibson, USMC, ret. will be celebrated on Saturday, March 15, 2008 at 1pm at St. Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church, Aiken. Interment, with honors, will follow at Calvary Cemetery. Visitation will be on Friday, 6-8pm at George Funeral Home & Cremation Center, 211 Park Ave. SW Aiken. Memorial donations may be made to Habitat for Humanity, The St. Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church Building Fund or to the USCA
Col. Gibson, 83, of Aiken, died March 9, 2008 at Aiken Regional Medical Centers.
A son of the late William Arthur and Mary Luticia Pugh Gibson, he was born and raised in Joplin, MO and had lived in Alexandria, VA before moving to Aiken in 1972.
He was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. in the USMC and was designated as a Naval Aviator in 1944. He was a veteran of 115 aircraft carrier landings and was also designated as an Atomic Delivery Pilot. He was the former US Delegate to the Conference of Committees on Disarmament in Geneva, Switzerland. Prior to that assignment he had served on the staff of the Commandant of the Marine Corps and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. One of his proudest accomplishments was that of being commanding officer of the VMF AW-235, known as the “Death Angels”, during Viet Nam 1966-1967. He is the holder of twenty-two decorations and medals and after retiring from the Corps in 1972, he went to work at USC- Aiken as the business manager. He retired from USCA in 1986 as the Associate Chancellor for Facilities, Planning, Operations and Business Affairs.
Col. Gibson is a member and past president of the Aiken Chapter of the Retired Officers Association, a member and past Vice Cmdr. of the Augusta Chapter of the Military Order of the World Wars and a former secretary/treasurer of the SC Assoc. of State Planning and Construction Officials.
He was a communicant of St. Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church. He was a Past-Grand Knight of K of C Msgr. George Lewis Smith Council #3684 and was a Sir Knight of Assembly 1074.
In addition to his parents, George was pre-deceased by his first wife, Gertrude “Fran” Archung Gibson, who died in 1999 and an infant daughter, Gail Ann Gibson.
He is survived by his wife; Susan Williams Gibson, Aiken, two sons; George A. Gibson, Jr. and his wife Sandy, Cathedral City, CA and Greg Gibson and his wife Patty, Palm Bay, FL and by ten grandchildren and one great granddaughter. He is also remembered by Susan’s children; Lisa Owens, Harlem, GA, Robert Kodama, Avera, GA and three of her grandchildren that he loved as his own.
The family would like to acknowledge Aretha Butler, Davey & Erma Diaz and George’s special young friend, Martha Diaz for their care and love.
Visit www.georgefuneralhomes.com to sign the online condolence register.
I served with VMF(AW)-235 in 1964 – 1965 at MCAS Beaufort. I was a radar technician and “plane captain” which meant I inspected and helped launch aircraft. One hot day Col. Gibson (I’m pretty sure.) showed up scheduled to earn some flight hours. We walked out to his assigned plane and I helped him get ‘strapped in’ to the cockpit. During prelaunch activities I noticed an hydraulic leak on one of the wings (someone else had done the preflight inspection). Reluctantly I climbed up onto the side of the F-8 and told Col. Gibson that I couldn’t let him take off. As he unstrapped and climbed down from the cockpit he said: “You tell them how much I enjoy not being able to fly and having to squeeze in and out of the cockpit on a hot day!”
Sorry for the late post. Just stumbled across this today. My condolences.