Joyce Blomquist Gibbes

Joyce Blomquist Gibbes, 89, died Wednesday, July 9 at St. Dominic Jackson Memorial Hospital. A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. on Monday, July 14 at St. John's Episcopal Church with the Rev. Fr. Jeffery W. Reich officiating. A reception will be held following the service in the Parish House of St. John's Episcopal Church. Mrs. Gibbes was a native of Port Gibson. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Mississippi and earned Master's degrees from Columbia University and from the University of Southern Mississippi. She earned her Doctor of Philosophy degree in higher education administration from the University of Southern Mississippi in May of 2004, at the age of 79. She was presented a Lifelong Learning Award from the Department of Educational Leadership and Research, USM College of Education and Psychology in 2004. Her professional career included positions as classroom teacher, guidance counselor, Dean of Women at Millsaps College, Headmistress at St. John's Day School, Laurel, and adjunct professor at USM. Her university affiliations included Phi Kappa Phi, Mortar Board, Kappa Delta Pi, Phi Lambda Theta, Delta Delta Delta, and Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities. Mrs. Gibbes had been a member of the American Personnel and Guidance Association, the National Association of Women Deans and Counselors, the Mississippi Committee of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and the Board of Directors, Mississippi School Boards Association. She was featured in the 1959/60 edition of Who's Who in Education and in the 1964/65 edition of Who's Who in American Women, Mrs. Gibbes was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Laurel Municipal Separate School District from 1978 to 1983, serving as president for four years. She served her church in various responsibilities, including being a Vestry member. She was a Life Associate member of the Laurel Junior Auxiliary, a member of Nahoula Chapter of the DAR, and the Laurel Garden Club. She was a former member of the Laurel Arts League, the Board of Governors of the Laurel Country Club, the Board of Trustees of the Laurel-Jones County Library, and served as State Treasurer of the National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in the State of Mississippi. At the time of her death she was a resident of The Orchard in Ridgeland. Her family is most appreciative of her caregiver, Shirley Gordon, who was with her for a number of years. While there, Mrs. Gibbes was a member of the High Noon Club and was a parishioner of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Cathedral. Mrs. Gibbes was predeceased by her husbands, Roy Foote Watson, Sr., and C. Denton Gibbes, Jr., and her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Carl Wheeless Blomquist. She is survived by her one daughter, Cynthia Watson Calvert and her husband Ellis of Orange Beach, Alabama; four sons: C. Denton Gibbes III and his wife Laura of Jackson; John P. Gibbes and his wife Donna; Michael T. Gibbes and his wife Carol; and Roy F. Watson, all of Laurel; a sister, Sarah Ann Chauvin and her husband Richard of Baton Rouge, Louisiana; a brother, Carl W. Blomquist and his wife Sharlene of Brandon, Florida; eight grandchildren: Crawford Denton Gibbes IV, William E. Gibbes, Lauren Gibbes Musselwhite and her husband Chris, Gregg Gibbes and his wife Day, Casey Gibbes Whitson and her husband Ryan, Michael T. Gibbes, Jr., D. Gibbes Pickering, and Craig W. Pickering; five great-grandchildren: Daylee Gibbes, Jackson and Loxley Musslewhite, and Grant and Gibbes Whitson. She is also survived by numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins. The family requests that any memorial gifts be made to St. John's Episcopal Church, The Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, or the DCH Foundation Help and Hope Fund (809 University Blvd. East, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401). Memory Chapel is in charge of arrangements. To view and sign the family guest book, visit www.memorychapellaurel.com.

Joyce Blomquist Gibbes

June 9, 1925 - July 9, 2014