Chuck Gibbons

Charles Lynn "Chuck" Gibbons passed away peacefully in his Boise home on March 10, 2023.

Chuck was born on December 26, 1930 in Altus, Oklahoma to Orville Ellis Gibbons and Klonda Pearl Lees Gibbons. Born in the midst of the Great Depression, Chuck's early life was what one might describe as "hard-scrabble." The family moved around the west as his father found work as a farmer and in a silver mine in Colorado, and they would often have to survive on rabbits or other game shot by his father. When he was nine, the family moved to Tucson where his father started selling used cars. The family remained in Tucson for several years, long enough for Chuck to graduate from Amphitheater High School and start college at the University of Arizona.

Chuck was an outstanding high school athlete, and throughout his life. In high school, he excelled in baseball, basketball and football. His Senior year he led his baseball team with a .428 batting average and he subsequently earned a scholarship to play baseball at the University of Arizona. Unfortunately, he had to quit college due to an injury and to help his parents financially. He went to work as a technician in the Tucson airplane industry and he continued as an athlete, playing fast-pitch softball for a local team.

In 1952, his friend Hugh Gallagher and Hugh's wife Janet, set him up on a blind date with Janet's sister, Gertie, who had two young children, Julie and Steve, and had lost her husband the year before in a race car crash. Chuck and Gertie started dating, and after a short courtship they eloped to New Mexico on July 4, 1953. They kept the marriage a secret for a few weeks until they both sold their cars and bought a new Mercury coupe! The jig was up. Gertie was given the nickname Trudy by her new mother-in-law, who declared she was too pretty to be called Gertie. Chuck and Trudy enjoyed sixty-nine years of love and marriage, and besides Julie and Steve, had four children together: Curtis, Sherry, Cindy and Kelly.

Due to Chuck's employment in the aerospace industry, the family moved frequently, moving to Palmdale, CA in 1954; Florissant, MO in 1958; Alamogordo, NM in 1959; and Idaho Falls, ID in 1960, where he was employed at the Atomic Energy Commission "Site," now known as the Idaho National Laboratory. Chuck and Trudy remained in Idaho Falls until 1985 when Chuck took his final job as an Assistant General Manager with EG&G Florida to help manage the Base Operations Contract at Kennedy Space Center. He retired with Trudy in 1991, and, after traveling around the US in their motor home, playing golf and visiting their bucket list destinations, they built their dream house in Patagonia, AZ, spending the winters there and summers at their cabin in Star Valley, WY.

Chuck was a man of his generation. He started delivering papers at a young age, and he worked hard until his retirement. And, the fact that he rose to an upper-management position with a major engineering firm, without a college degree, says a lot about his intellect, skill, and abilities. He could build or fix anything-fix cars, build houses (he, Trudy, and their friends built the family cabin in Star Valley), remodel homes, fix TVs, build fences, whatever. You name it and he could build it or fix it, or he'd figure out a way to get it done. He was also an avid outdoorsman-he hunted, fished, camped, backpacked and cross-country skied. He taught himself to be a very skilled hunter-deer, elk, antelope, pheasants, ducks, grouse, any big or small game-and he caught a lot of fish. He'd often come home with a stringer of trout caught on the North Fork of the Snake, and he became a skilled fly fisherman and fly tier.

At his core, as Trudy would often remind us, he was a family man, committed to taking care of his family. Every year, we would hitch up the camper trailer to the Travelall , load up the kids and the dog and take off for a family vacation, exploring the Pacific Coast, the Southwest, or our favorite spot, Stanley Lake, Idaho. Our family had a 14 foot aluminum boat with a 10 horsepower motor that we used to troll for fish in various lakes around eastern and central Idaho. It was a way for Dad to get some fishing in and get his family involved too-two or three of the kids would climb into the boat and troll around the lake with him for an hour or so, then he'd come back for another load and take them out. He was always up for a day trip to Fall Creek or a weekend at Palisades Reservoir because he wanted to share these and other adventures with his family. While camping, there would always be plenty of wood for fires thanks to Dad and his chainsaw and ax, and he was an excellent camp chef, grilling steaks, hamburgers, fish, bacon and eggs-whatever-over an open fire.

He also remained a great athlete, playing fast-pitch softball, basketball and volleyball well into his late thirties; he was a very good bowler, he played a good game of golf into his 80's, and he kept his foot in high school sports by becoming a well-known and highly regarded football and basketball referee in Southeastern Idaho. He and Trudy were also excellent dancers, eager to get up onto any dance floor, especially to the tune of "Glow Worm." Chuck had a quick and sharp sense of humor, always ready for a one-liner and quick to laugh at one thrown back at him by his wife, kids or friends.

Trudy was the love of Chucks' life and he loved sharing a laugh with her. She said that their shared sense of humor was the secret to their long marriage. He believed that a good sense of humor was key to living a full life, and his humor never failed him. Thank you, Dad, for your wit and your wisdom, for caring enough to share them with us, for taking time to teach us and for your love.

We all love you back.

Chuck is survived by his children Julie Headrick of Tacoma, Washington; Stephen Gibbons (Nancy) of Salem, Oregon; Cindy Gibbons of Idaho Falls, Idaho; Kelly Gibbons of Nampa, Idaho; His brother Thomas Gibbons of Brookings, Oregon; his sister Michelle Hindes of Redding, California; his brother Michael Gibbons of Redding; eleven grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren; three great-great grandchildren; numerous nephews, nieces and too many friends to count.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Gertrude Francis "Trudy" Gibbons; father, Orville Ellis Gibbons; mother, Klonda Pearl Lees Gibbons; son Curtis Hugh Gibbons; daughter, Sherry Lynn Gibbons; and his granddaughter, Sharayah Leigh Osburn.

Funeral mass will be held at 8:15 a.m. on Friday August 4, 2023, at Holy Rosary Catholic Church (95 S. Lee Ave.), with a Rosary to follow.

Memorial service/celebration of life will be held at a later date. Arrangements by Alsip and Parsons Funeral Chapel, Nampa, Idaho.