Kenneth Gibson

Kenneth Elmer Gibson was born at Caldwell, Kansas, on July 14, 1912, the first child of Walter Edson Gibson and Grace Lavina Posey Gibson. He died peacefully, surrounded by his children, on December 31, 2014, in Bethany, Oklahoma. Kenneth was 102 years old. Siblings include Wilbur James Gibson (deceased), Floyd Arthur Gibson (deceased), Estel Gibson (Wichita, Kansas), Beulah Hunzeker (Scottsbluff, Nebraska), Frank Gibson (deceased), Lee Edson Gibson (Valley Center, Kansas), and Evelyn Kirkpatrick (deceased). He was married to Mary Audene Bottom Gibson (deceased) and Evelyn Olcott Gibson (deceased). Children include David E. Gibson (Camarillo, California), Charles K. Gibson (Arlington, Texas), and Marilynn J. Tabor (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) and stepchildren Shirley Hinds (deceased), Virginia Aue (deceased), Dale Hannon (Surprise, Arizona), Claudia Peden (Bend, Oregon), and Sue Heinle (Mechanicsville, Virginia). He also had 6 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren as well as a number of step-grandchildren and -great grandchildren. After graduating from high school in Wichita, Kansas, Kenneth attended Friends University in Wichita from 1930 to 1932. He began work with a trucking company in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and married Audene Bottom on June 28, 1936, at her home near Rose Hill, Kansas. Audene died on August 8, 1994. He married Evelyn O. Hannon on August 25, 1996, at Powell Butte, Oregon. Evelyn died April 27, 2010. Kenneth was hired in Wichita by a trucking firm, but was transferred to Tulsa, Oklahoma. After working several years for the trucking firm in Tulsa, Kenneth began work with the Post Office in Texarkana, Texas, in November, 1937, and continued to work with the Post Office until his retirement in 1972. He worked on mail trains in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, and Texas. In 1940, he moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, and worked on mail trains from there until 1950. In 1950, he moved to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and worked on the Highway Post Office buses until they were cancelled in 1967. He worked in the main Post Office in Oklahoma City from 1967 until his retirement in 1972. He was one of the last of the Railway and Highway Post Office clerks still living in Oklahoma City. During WWII, Kenneth continued to work for the Post Office, though all of his brothers served in the military. He received several deferments because the Post Office was a necessary position, but at the end of the war he was called for induction; the war ended before he was inducted. Kenneth was baptized into the Church of Christ about 1933, in Wichita, Kansas. He was a charter member of the Geraldine/Northwest Church of Christ in Oklahoma City and was one of many members of that congregation who helped in the construction of the building. He served as an elder of the congregation from 1957 until 1987, a total of 29 ½ years. He continued as a member of the congregation until the end of his life, though in his last years he was no longer able to attend services. Kenneth leaves behind all of his children and three stepchildren. He was a loving son, a wonderful husband to two women (58 years to Audene and nearly 14 to Evelyn), a world-class father, and an involved grandfather. Please do not send flowers, but if you wish to remember Kenneth, please make a donation to the Northwest Church of Christ or to a favorite charity in his name.