Alice M. Gibbons

Alice Kiefer was born January 8, 1922 in Brooklyn, New York, the second child of Andrew and Brigid Kiefer (nee Carney). Her only brother, Andrew, died at five years old, followed by her father just a few years later. Despite early loss and financial hardship, Alice was always joyful and smiling. She had a practical side as well. As a young girl, when asked what she wanted for Christmas, Alice replied “a ton of coal”.

Alice’s mom worked as a cook for a wealthy family to support them. She attended St. Teresa’s Grammar School and then St. Joseph’s Commercial High School, both in Brooklyn, and met Tom Gibbons, the love of her life, in the neighborhood. She worked briefly as a secretary for a law firm, Mitchell May, in lower Manhattan. In 1946, Alice and Tom married when he returned from serving his country as a Marine in WWII. Having grown up as an only child, Alice quickly embraced the extended Gibbons family as her own. Their own babies started coming in 1947 – Andrew, Tommy, Anne, Joe, Teresa, Mary, twins Eileen & Kathy, and Tim. The family lived on Sterling Place in Brooklyn until they bought a house in Bellerose in September 1957. At the time, Alice was nine months pregnant with the twins. To avoid the three eldest from starting school in Brooklyn and transferring just a few weeks later, they were enrolled in St. Gregory the Great School in Bellerose. Alice would take the Long Island Railroad from Brooklyn, bring them to school, go to church and spend the day in the park or on the stoop of her new home. After school, she would pick the kids up and take the railroad back to Brooklyn (did we mention she was nine months pregnant?). Alice and Tom moved into the new home they both loved a week before the birth of their twins. Their neighbors, the Healys, may have been horrified at the prospect of a family of six with more on the way moving next door, but the two families soon became lifelong friends.

Alice and Tom raised their nine children with the help of her mother, our “granny”, who lived with us until her death in 1979. Not surprisingly, Alice was busy raising children, but she soon got involved in many church and in community activities, becoming a stalwart member of the Rosary Society and was an enthusiastic volunteer at the annual St. Gregory the Great Festival well into her eighties.

Our mother had a tremendous capacity for love, always opening her heart and home to others. When her friend, Jimmy Buffini, his wife and two children moved here from Ireland, they lived with us until they found a home (that would make sixteen people in a three-bedroom home). She collected, sorted and sometimes washed clothing for the needy, then distributed it to appropriate organizations. Early Sunday mornings, Alice and Tom would drive into the city to deliver men’s clothing to the Bowery Mission. She collected used eyeglasses for Eyes for the Needy and cancelled stamps for Sisters of the Holy Cross. She donated money they didn’t necessarily have to countless charities. When Tom studied for his doctorate, Alice typed all his papers, including his thesis.

Alice suffered heartbreak when her daughter Kathy died unexpectedly in 1984, and once again demonstrated her capacity to recover. She kept Kathy’s picture by her bedside until her own death. Alice took great pleasure in other people’s good news, particularly weddings and babies and was proud when her sons and daughters married and Ann, Irene, Ivan, Kathy, John, Terry and Antoinette joined the family. She was thrilled to welcome her grandchildren Brian, Julie, Diana and Caroline. Alice was a hands-on grandmother, a Robin to grandson Brian’s Batman, complete with capes. When she was playfully tied up to a chair by granddaughter Caroline, she was in no hurry to be untied (“It’s the first chance I got to sit down all day”). Julie and Diana had sleepovers and played countless games of restaurant and store with their granny, who got right into it. In recent years, Alice was very happy to welcome great-grandchildren Gavin, Elena, Nicholas Tyler and Meara.

As our mother and father aged, they wanted to be able to stay in their own home, and the house was renovated to accommodate their needs. Reluctant to accept help initially, they appreciated the assistance and thoroughly enjoyed the company of Jennifer and later Monica, both of whom have become part of the family. Sadly, our father died suddenly in April 2012. Though heartbroken, Alice was still able to find joy in her family. But perhaps the loss was too hard for her to bear any longer. She died peacefully on Valentine’s Day, 2013, reunited with her beloved Tom who was waiting to welcome her home.

Donations in memory of Alice Gibbons may be made to:

The Bowery Mission

132 Madison Avenue

New York, NY 10016

1-800-269-3791

http://www.bowery.org/donate/

Maryknoll Society

Maryknoll Lay Missioners

PO Box 307

Maryknoll, NY 10545-0307

1-800-867-2980

http://www.maryknoll-laymissioners.org/

St. Gregory the Great School

224-44 87th Avenue

Bellerose, NY 11426

Tel: (718) 343-5053

http://stgregorythegreatschool.org/