Esther Ruth Gibson

SERVICES: 10:00 AM Thursday, February 22, 2007, at Carmichael-Whatley Colonial Chapel, with Nancy Ruff, CLP with First Presbyterian Church, officiating.BURIAL: Fairview Cemetery under the direction of Carmichael-Whatley Funeral Directors.BIOGRAPHY: Mrs. Gibson was born July 3, 1913 in Lipan, Hood County, Texas, to George Timothy & Carrie Virginia Hubbard Sears. Her mother died when she was 6 and her father when she was 8. Her older brothers and sisters shared in her upbringing. She loved and was loved by her family.She was a 1927 graduate of Lipan High School. She received her B.A. degree in 1932 at Texas Women's University (College of Industrial Arts) in Denton and her M.A. degree in 1940 at the University of Texas in Austin. She was a teacher in Texas Public Schools for more than 35 years. She taught in Arp, Troup, and Kilgore before her marriage. She taught first grade at Sam Houston Elementary in Pampa from 1945 until her retirement in 1967. She loved first graders and they returned that love. She took great pride in the accomplishments of those first graders after they achieved adulthood. Esther Ruth was part of a great tradition of educators. Both of her grandfathers were teachers as were two sisters, three sisters-in-law, and many of her nieces and nephews.She married J. E. Gibson on June 3, 1942 in Troup. They were married 64 ? years at the time of his death on December 27, 2006. She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church and a 4,000 hour hospital auxiliary volunteer. She was also a member of the TSTA and Delta Kappa Gamma. She volunteered with Pampa Meals on Wheels and the American Cancer Society. She enjoyed playing bridge.She is survived by her Sears family nieces and nephews: Mary Jo Vandiver of Artesia, New Mexico, Elizabeth Ann Sears of Tucson, Arizona, George Benson Gilbert of Stephenville, George Hendrick of Urbana, Illinois, John Hendrick of Lipan, Jim M. Sears of Dallas, Timothy Sears of Brookfield, Wisconsin, and Danny Sears of Lipan. She is also survived by her Gibson family nieces and nephews: Don Lee Gibson of Parker, Colorado, George Ruth Gibson of Garland, Diana Gibson Merrill of Plano, Jimmy Gibson of Houston, Carolyn Sue Cloyd of Magnolia, and Barbara K. Miller of Nederland.She was preceded in death by three sisters and three brothers, Marie Sears, Faye Sears Gilbert, Bessie Lea Sears Hendrick, James Ross Sears, George Vaughn Sears and Edwin Hansford (Ted) Sears; two nieces, Bobbie Lea Gilbert and Carrie Virginia Gilbert Baker; and two nephews, Jack Vaughn Sears and Joseph Rodney Sears. She was also preceded in death by four brothers-in-law, George, William Clyde, Ernest Lee and Robert Watt Gibson.Memorials may be made to the First Presbyterian Church, 525 N. Gray, Pampa, Texas 79065.The family wishes to thank John & Evanell Hart for their long friendship and continuous loving care so generously given to both Esther Ruth and her late husband Gib.