[Dixielandjazz] Don Gibson RIP

[Rick Campbell]

 From Suzan Stier, Don Gibson's daughter:

This is to let you know that my dad, Don Gibson died peacefully last  
week.


About Don
Everyone who knew Don will admit that he had a great sense of humor,  
but usually told the world’s worst jokes.  For holidays we always  
looked forward to hearing what type of humorous (or humorless) joke he  
would come up with. We always knew some kind of joke was coming, we  
just never knew if we were going to be amused, shocked or embarrassed,  
sometimes all at once!  Ever sensitive to his listeners, Don never  
understood why some family or guests just didn’t get his punch lines  
and, surveying their incredulous expressions, he would often repeat  
the offending line again, convinced that the audience just hadn’t  
heard it correctly.

In his last years, strokes small and large claimed bits of him: first  
his fine motor skills, then his short term memory and finally his  
swallowing and most of his speech. Don was a realist, so losing the  
use of his hands was just another challenge to him, one requiring him  
to learn to do things a different way.  And he did. He still had three  
working fingers left before he died and at the nursing home we put him  
in front of the piano where he spent a bit of time playing 3-fingered  
chords. It wasn’t bad- he actually was pretty good.  As was typical  
with Don, in his last days he was more concerned about the blandness  
of the food he was served than the suffering he endured from his many  
physical hardships. We conspired with him to overcome some of this for  
the Super Bowl this year and, despite the difficulty he had  
swallowing, he managed to down a thickened beer while watching the  
Green Bay Packer victory. He got his beer and the Packer’s got their  
victory. Also, in these last few months, Don was still able to connect  
with his music. A few of you were able to track him down and send  
music- thank you-- which my brother downloaded for him to an IPOD  
which, with headphones, kept him very happy.  Sons of Bix, Al Capone,  
and classical music were the things he adored the most.

We are sad to have lost Don, but glad that his physical trials are now  
over and that he was able to share some of his love for us and Taffy  
before leaving. My daughter found a photo taken of Don and Taffy  
together when they were dating, a darling 8x10 picture that they  
brought to him to see.  Although he couldn’t speak that day, he kissed  
the photo and his eyes got teary. It will be no surprise to many of  
you that after all the years together with her, Don never found  
another love to replace her. Though he pursued many relationships,  
Taffy was the one that endured.

You may remember my dad for his great achievements in music and his  
association with great musicians who shared a love for Dixieland: the  
Al Capone Memorial Jazz Band, The Alfred E. Packer Memorial Jazz Band  
or Sons of Bix are well-known to us all.  Or, perhaps you know him  
through Model Railroading, his eternal hobby of ever-evolving train  
designs. Or, maybe you worked with him or were a neighbor. However you  
met him, you know that he loved living in the moment. Whatever he was  
doing at the moment was the most important thing in the world and he  
devoted a great deal of concentration and focus on that task into all  
hours of the night.  Whether he was arranging music or deciding there  
needed to be one more rehearsal, he was both stubborn and relentless.  
I am sure that you all have wonderful stories involving Don, too; some  
that I have heard over the years and many that I remember. I hope  
those stories live on in your memories. I know that when we were  
children he gave us a love of beautiful scenery, camping, dogs, music,  
food, wine, photography, battlefields and steam engines to name only a  
few.  Some of his passion for life transferred into our lives as  
well.  We will miss him and know that though the stories will live on,  
we can all only hope that the jokes will get better!
I hope this finds you all well and know that you all live big in our  
memories.

Much love and please pass this on to anyone not included in the emails  
above,


Susan and all of Don’s Family

Donald Clark Gibson born May 22, 1929 died February 22, 2011
Survived by his daughters Susan Gibson Stier (and husband Nick), Lynne  
Bowers, son Scott Gibson (and his wife Pam), his 6 grandchildren Chris  
and Riley, Morgan and Lindsey and Alec and Laurel and his beloved  
sister Gail, her children Ashley and Johnny, and cousins Annie Ashby  
and Jean Lynch.
The celebration of his life will be this summer with the immediate  
family at his favorite campsite in Green River Lakes, Wyoming

Susan’s mailing address
1049 North Shore Place
Lake Oswego, OR   97034




Rick Campbell
Rick Campbell, Creative.
Portland, Oregon USA
(503) 234-9440
ricksax at comcast.net