Obituaries

Thomas B. Gibble, 83

Thomas B. Gibble, 83, formerly of Lancaster, died at Lakeside at Willow Valley on Monday, April 2, 2012. His wife of 57 years Dorothy M. Corey Gibble died in 2011. Born in Lancaster, he was the son of the late Harold McKinstry and Kathryn Minerva Enck Gibble.

A 1946 graduate of J. P. McCaskey High School, Tom earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree from Gettysburg College in 1949 where he was a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. He earned his Master’s Degree in Public Health from the University of California at Berkeley in 1958. He served in hospital administration in the US Air Force for 21 years spanning the Korean and Vietnam Wars, retiring his commission in 1971. Lt. Colonel Gibble’s duty stations included several cities in Texas, California, Delaware, Ohio, Langley, Virginia and Bethesda, MD, and foreign stations included Seoul, Korea, Itami, Japan and Wiesbaden, Germany. As a civilian Tom worked in hospital administration in various positions, including serving as Vice President of Operations of St. Joseph Hospital for 18 years. Tom was the first lay president of the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, and a past president of the Board of Directors of Lancaster Cleft Palate Clinic.

Tom and his wife Dorothy were one of the founding families of St. John Neumann Catholic Church. He was a member of AARP, the Military Officers Association of America, the USAF Medical Service Corps Association and the Lancaster Lodge #134 B.P.O.E. An avid golfer he was a former member of Meadia Heights Golf Club.

Surviving are five children, Maureen E., wife of John Felix, Mount Joy, Patricia G., wife of Michael Rinehart, East Petersburg, Diana M., wife of Brian Hicks, Elkins Park, Karen F., wife of Ernie Blaine, Kutztown and Thomas P. Gibble, husband of Lee Ann Pitts, Gulf Breeze, FL; 15 grandchildren and 3 great-granddaughters; his brother H. Nelson Gibble, New Jersey and his sister S. Diane Wolf, Lancaster. Tom’s was preceded in death by his brother Harold M. Gibble, Jr.

Mass of Christian Burial will be held 11 AM Tuesday, April 10, 2012, at St. John Neumann Catholic Church 601 E. Delp Rd., Lancaster, PA with The Rev. Paul J. Theisz as Celebrant. Viewings will be held 6-8 PM Monday from the Charles F. Snyder Jr. Funeral Home & Crematory 3110 Lititz Pike, Lititz, PA, and 10-11 AM Tuesday at the church. The Recitation of the Holy Rosary will take place 7:30 PM Monday at the funeral home. Final Commendation and Farewell with full military honors in Indiantown Gap National Cemetery. Memorial Contributions may be made to the American Parkinson Disease Association, Inc., 135 Parkinson Ave., Staten Island, NY 10305 or to AseraCare Hospice, 315 Primrose Lane, Suite 101, Mountville, PA 17554. The family wishes to thank the staff of Willow Valley Lakeside for their kindness and care of both Tom and the family.To send an online condolence or for more information please visit SnyderFuneralHome.com. Charles F. Snyder Jr. Funeral Home & Crematory 717-560-5100

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To Meg, Patty, Diane, Karen and Tom,

My sympathy to you all on the loss of your father. Can it be forty years since he would end a night on "the Corner" by flicking the lights and saying, "That’s all she wrote." My thoughts and prayers are with you during this season of death and resurrection.

Kameron Dunn

My name is Donna Gay Grun Kaplan, and I was an employee at St. Joseph Hospital from 1982 until 1993.  I live at 65 Valley Road, P.O. Box 128, Mt. Gretna, PA.

I am so sorry to learn of Tom’s death; I extend to all of you my deepest heartfelt sympathy.

Reading his obituary brought back so many wonderful memories of having worked with Tom and of having been in social situations with both him and Dorothy.  I am so sorry that I was unaware of her death.

I thoroughly enjoyed working with Tom.  He was an important presence at SJH; we all appreciated his sense of humor.  We shared lots of golf stories which I enjoyed reviewing during the past few days.

It was a pleasure to run into him around town from time to time.  There, for a while, we seemed to share the same time slot in the same barber shop with different barbers.  It was always good to catch up with him then and to share a few stories.

Please know that my thoughts and prayers are with all of you during this time.

Shalom,
Donna

My heartfelt condolences at the passing of your Tom Gibble.  A truer gentleman I have never met, and early on had the privilege of playing golf with him at Meadia Heights some 12 and 13 years ago.  I know that you will truly miss him, as shall we all.  We can take solace in the fact that he will know no more earth-bound suffering.

Jay Woods

To Meg, Patty, Diane, Karen and Tom,

Judith and I want to express our sympathy to you on the loss of your father. He was a good man.

Charlie Sloden

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