Miriam June Gibson

Miriam June Gibson, 92, of Evansville, Indiana passed away on Sunday, December 1, 2019 at Evansville Protestant Home. June was a retired teacher, having retired from Central High School where she taught Spanish and was head of the Foreign Language Department. She had also taught at several other schools and in 1966 became State Supervisor of Foreign Languages, a position she held for three years before returning to the classroom. June was a graduate of Evansville College and earned her Master’s Degree at Indiana University. She later received grants to attend special summer foreign language programs at Michigan State University; Valencia, Spain; Tucuman, Argentina; Stanford and Purdue Universities. She was an avid traveler having traveled to over fifty countries including most Spanish-speaking countries. Her travels took her from the top of our continent, Point Barrow, Alaska, to the southernmost tip of continental South America, from the austerity of life behind the Iron Curtain to the beauty of the Great Coral Reef. Upon her retirement in 1986, she became a WNIN reader for the visually impaired and a volunteer at the Evansville Tourism office. She also served on several Red Cross disaster teams and was a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate for children). While teaching at Wheeler School she became a Girl Scout leader and began a troop which was considered the most active troop of the city at the time. June was a life-long member of Olivet Evangelical Presbyterian Church. At three months of age, she was enrolled in Olivet’s nursery and continued through the various classes. She became a member in 1938. At various times she taught Sunday School, had served as superintendent of the Junior-Senior High Sunday School department and was ordained elder in 1971. She was a member and past president of Evansville Retired Teachers Association and a member of Delta Kappa Gamma honorary society for teachers and past president of Beta Alpha chapter. She was also a life member of Phi Mu Sorority. Following her retirement in 1986, Gov. Robert D. Orr appointed her to a three-year term on the Indiana Teachers Retirement Fund Board where she served the third year as its chairman. June was preceded in death by her mother, Grace Gibson, and her father, Merle Gibson. There are no immediate survivors. However, she has cousins residing in Michigan and Massachusetts. A very special thanks to her close friends/caregivers, Bob and Ellen Costner. Funeral Services will be held 2:00 p.m. Thursday December 5, 2019 at Alexander East Chapel with the Rev. Dave Mills officiating. Burial will follow at Park Lawn Cemetery. Friends may visit 12:00 p.m. until service time at the funeral home. Memorial contributions may be made to Habitat for Humanity of Evansville, 560 East Diamond Avenue, Evansville, Indiana 47711.