Jennilee Gibson Thayer

She was born in McGill, Nevada, on October 24,1931 to Fred D. and May Emma Gibson. Her family lived in McGill and Carson City before moving to Las Vegas in May of 1936. Jennie attended Fifth Street Grammer school and graduated from Las Vegas High School in 1949. She then attended the University of Nevada, Reno where she was a member of the Tri Delta sorority and graduated with a degree in Math and teaching credential. She taught math at Las Vegas High School and fifth grade at Basic Elementary in Henderson.

Jennilee married Robert (Red) Thayer on June 6, 1954 in Las Vegas. She was preceded in death by her husband. They were the parents of 5 children: Sherri (Kevin) Leany of Henderson, Dave (Christine) Thayer of Parowan, UT, Jennilee Thayer of Cedar City, UT, LuCille (Mark) Peveler of Henderson and John (Eva) Thayer of Tucson, AZ. They raised their family in Henderson. In 1988, work took Jennie and Red to Cedar City, UT where they lived until Red's passing in 2006. At that time, Jennie returned to Henderson and her beloved Nevada.

Jennie was active in her community. While in high school, she represented Las Vegas at Girls' State and Nevada at Girls' Nation. She was active in Rainbow Girls and served as Grand Worthy Advisor for Nevada. She later was Mother Advisor. Jennie was a leader for Camp Fire Girls in Henderson. A long member of the PEO Sisterhood, Jennie was the Nevada State President in 1990-91. She helped organize the Henderson Service Club; was an avid bridge player; and was active in Republican politics. She was active in the Community Church and later the Presbyterian church.

Besides her children, Jennilee is survived by 5 siblings: Fred Gibson, Maisie Ronnow, John (Marianne) Gibson, Christina Little, all of Las Vegas and Linda Ferguson of Henderson; 19 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by brother, James I Gibson.

There will be a viewing at Palm Mortuary in Henderson ( 800 S. Boulder Highway) on Friday, November 23, from 4 to 7 pm and a funeral service on Saturday, November 24 at 9 AM at Palm Mortuary, Henderson NV. Burial will be at the Southern Nevada Veteran's Memorial Cemetary in Boulder City on Tuesday, November 27 at 9:20 AM.