Nancy Gibson Jobes

Nancy Gibson Jobes passed away on Tuesday May 20, 2025, following a long and spirited engagement with life. She had lived energetically for 96 years. She was completely at peace and surrounded by love when she passed at Evergreen Hospice Center in Kirkland, Washington, with her son and daughter at her bedside. The previous weekend, her children, grandchildren and their partners had celebrated an extraordinary Mother’s Day with her, sharing their love, hearing her stories, and honoring her life.

Nancy was born February 19, 1929, in Bridgeton, New Jersey, to Les W. and Ruth S. Gibson.

Events in her early years forged the character and values she carried throughout her life. Nancy was stricken with polio at fifteen, spending an isolated and lonely six months immobilized in her traction bed. She pledged to God that if she could walk again, she would never slow down and held true to that pledge to the end of her life. A 1947 graduate of Bridgeton High School, Nancy’s closest friends were sons and daughters of Japanese farmers who had been forcibly interned and dislocated from their West Coast homes to work at nearby Seabrook Farms. Their family stories set her awareness of social justice.

Nancy attended West Chester State Teachers College but found her true calling when she was selected to intern in Radiology at Presbyterian Hospital at the University of Pennsylvania. Her medical mentor was Sherman Garrison, M.D., a nationally renowned surgeon who had established the first M.A.S.H. unit for American soldiers in the World War II European theater. She later served as Dr. Garrison’s medical secretary, office manager and, at urgent times, nursing assistant at Bridgeton Hospital. The compassion and stoicism in the face of trauma that Dr. Garrison recognized in young Nancy served her throughout her long life.

Nancy met the love of her life in Sam S. Jobes. They married in June 1957 and joyously celebrated the births of their son, Bryan, in May 1958 and their daughter, Lauren, in May 1960.

In 1963, the young family moved to Wiesbaden, Germany, where Sam engineered radar systems critical to the defense of Western Europe. Their experiences living abroad kindled a lifelong love of travel and enjoyment of international cuisines, art, music, and cultures.

When Sam and Nancy returned stateside, they co-founded the Fasching (German Mardi gras) Guild of Central New York. For decades, Nancy’s imaginative costume creations were as celebrated as Sam’s energetic Polka dancing.

Nancy was a lifelong artist, skillfully decorating her homes in Oklahoma City Okla., Vestal NY, Amherst NH, Whidbey Island WA, and Woodinville WA. She excelled at gardening, floral arrangement, and watercolor painting.

In 2020, Sam and Nancy relocated from Amherst NH to Whidbey Island WA so they could be closer to their young grandchildren. They found their new home in Orchard Park, Freeland. In between excursions to Europe, South America, Asia, Australia, and the South Pacific they were active with the Rhododendron Society, Meerkerk Gardens, and Whidbey Island Center for the Arts. Sam enjoyed hiking PNW trails, and he especially took delight at the bluffs at Ebey’s Landing and Double Bluff Beach. They delighted making trips with their Whidbey friends to Sydney BC, where they enjoyed bookstores and Butchart Gardens.

Sam passed suddenly in January 2008. They had celebrated their 50th anniversary with family and friends at Rosario Resort on Orcas Island the prior summer and were eagerly anticipating traveling to Africa in the spring.

Nancy wistfully left her Whidbey Island home in early 2020, moving to the Brittany Park Senior Living Community in Woodinville WA. While the Covid-19 pandemic soon brought necessary safety measures, her isolation was shared with fellow residents, and it forged unexpectedly strong friendships. After the emergency passed, Nancy and her new life friends jubilantly celebrated the return of their freedoms by hosting wine parties in each other’s apartments, attending musical and cultural events, and road tripping together.

Nancy will be buried beside her cherished husband Sam in Sunnyside Cemetery close by their beloved Ebey’s Landing, WA. She is survived by her children Bryan and Lauren, and her four grandchildren Sean, Kellen, Eric, and Allison. Her family plans to hold a celebration of her life at Brittany Park, Woodinville WA.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you honor and support doctors, nurses, and hospice workers by contributing to a charity of your choice.