W.D. (Wash) Gibbs

Visitation is 3:00-6:00pm Sunday, April 29, 2012 at Baldwin-Lee Funeral Home in Pearl. Funeral services are 11:00am Monday, April 30, 2012 at Crossgates United Methodist Church in Brandon. Graveside services will follow at 2:00pm in the Tabernacle United Methodist Church Cemetery in Attala County. The family will receive friends one hour prior to services at the church.

A native of Yazoo City, he was a graduate of Yazoo High School and attended Copiah-Lincoln Jr. College and Dallas Aviation School where he obtained a private pilot license. A veteran of the U.S. Marine Corp., he was deployed in the South Pacific Theater during WWII. After receiving a medical discharge, he returned to Mississippi where he became a Master Florist, working with his mother for several years. He then moved to Texas where he worked in the floral industry until his retirement following a successful 42 year career.

Mr. Gibbs became a member of the Yazoo Masonic Lodge No. 42 in 1955 and later a member of the John P. Byrd Lodge in Pearl. He was also a member of the York Rite and received his 50 year Masonic Pin in November 2006. He is a descendant of the Jersey Settlers of Mississippi and a member of the Nicholas Gibbs Society of Knoxville, TN.

He was an active member of Crossgates UMC, the Pioneer Sunday School Class and church choir.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Lee Gibbs, Sr. and Louise Swayze Gibbs; brother, Lee Gibbs, Jr., George D. Gibbs and Q.D. Gibbs.

Survivors include his wife of 55 years, Mary Rone Gibbs; sister, Louise Gibbs Harwell and husband Robert of Georgetown, TX; and a number of nieces and nephews.

Memorials may be made to Crossgates UMC, 23 Crossgates Dr., Brandon, MS 39042.