Gary Lee Gibson
Vietnam War Navy Veteran
Gary Lee Gibson of Tewksbury, MA died at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, MA on Friday, March 18, after a short illness. Gary is the son of Wallace Lee Gibson, (Deceased) and Fannie Ann (Persinger) Gibson of Ohio. Gary is survived by his mother Fannie, sisters Beverly Nelson, Barbara Dennison, Tina Beard and brothers Robert, David, and Douglas Gibson and Roger Beard, and their families, all of Ohio. Gary is also survived by his lifelong companion Rosemary (Voner) Gibson and her family, Richard and Lee Ann Voner of Revere, MA and Steven and CherylAnne Houde of Tewksbury, MA and Leahbeth Voner of Ohio. Gary was a loving uncle to Jennifer and Mason Juliano, Richard and Paola Voner, all of Revere and MaryAnne, Shawn and Irene Houde all of Tewksbury.
Gary was born and raised in London, Ohio where he joined the U.S Navy shortly after graduating from High School. Gary saw action on the USS Boston in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969. His service brought him to Boston, MA where he met and married Rosemary, remaining in MA for the remainder of his life. Gary had several jobs after leaving the Navy, including short order cook and color technician for a candy maker. Eventually, he began a long career at John Hancock Insurance Co, working in their mail operations.
Gary was an avid sports fan. In his younger years Gary was active in both softball, and bowling. In fact, he and a friend went bowling the night of the “blizzard of 78”. Gary was an active supporter of all the N.E. sports teams and of The Ohio State sport teams. In addition to cheering on his teams, Gary enjoyed collecting many things from Sport Team memorabilia, like balls, wall plaques, and jerseys, to Coca Cola items, from lamps to playing cards. Gary also, enjoyed collecting Monopoly Games and short glasses from every state. Additionally, Gary has a collection of sports cards, his favorites being Roger Clemens and Tom Brady, along with many Ohio State players.
Gary vacationed for many years at Hampton Beach, N.H. He enjoyed the arcades and was a genuine “pinball wizard” and quite a good Skee Ball player too. Typical of Gary, he very rarely ever actually went to the beach, preferring the boardwalk and relaxing to music rather than the sun and sand. Gary enjoyed many types of music from Country and Western, to today’s Country, from Rock and Hard Rock to Blues and Jazz.
Gary will be greatly missed by his loving family and friends and particularly his kitties, Beau and Chloe.
Calling hours are Tuesday, March 22, from 5-8 p.m. at the Farmer & Dee Funeral Home, 16 Lee St., Tewksbury. Funeral services will be held Wednesday, March 23, at 10 a.m. at the funeral home. Interment to follow at Holy Cross Cemetery, Malden.