Joanne Gibbs

Joanne and I became friends in 7^th grade.  I have been pondering these past days, how do you encapsulate 55 years of friendship in a couple of paragraphs?  Adventures?  Of course, some getting us into trouble, some just a wonderful experience, others leaving us laughing so hard we could barely catch our breath.  Joanne was a strong, extremely bright, young woman, and woman.  Her dry sense of humor left some speechless, me, always laughing.  Did she possess strong opinions?  You bet, especially when it came to politics, and if you wanted to disagree with her, you had better know your facts.

As was mentioned, Joanne was an artist, and especially talented in mosaics.  I am fortunate enough to have several of her pieces.  My favorite was a surprise from her.  We were meeting at the beach (which we did every year for many years) she knew I was driving back home with my sister, so I had a way to transport a heavy stepping stone.  The stepping stone was gingko leaves, the symbol of friendship.  It sits in a special place in my garden.

Joanne and I spent four days at the beach this October.  Although she was still recovering from her illness, we did all of our usual activities, and of course her favorite, sitting on the beach in the late afternoon just talking.  The unexpected loss of my dearest friend has left a void in my life.  As memories surface there is comfort.  I will miss her terribly.

Joanne was my son's Godmother.  These are the words he wished to share.

I was sad to hear about the passing of Joanne Gibbs; or as I knew her, Aunt Joanne. Even though I met her a limited amount of times she was the best godmother. Whether it be talking on the phone for a few minutes or getting a birthday card every year. She would even make sure to make an extra amount of Christmas cookies since I would eat them all in a few days. Just this past Christmas she made even more since my wife developed a taste for them also. I will definitely miss the little conversations we would have on the phone. She was always interested what I was up too and loved the fact my wife and I are working and living abroad. 

 I hope this gives you some comfort that she was the best godmother a guy could ask for and I will miss her.

 Love Tal

Attended the services for Joanne yesterday and spoke briefly to the congregation about our time together at Lee. Although not as close as many of you, Joanne, and I did share some enjoyable time in homeroom just talking. That was usually our free time before classes started. I spoke about the time when she  hit the vollyeball over the fence, striking my car and breaking off the antenna. The next day in homeroom, I said to her, " your the girl that broke my antenna", embarassed, she offered to pay for it. I  told her not to worry about it, the radio didn't work anyway.   Joanne had a beautiful service, I know she would be proud.

My condolences to Joanne's family and I am sorry for her passing.  However, she is not gone from our minds and thoughts, we will always remember her and the things that she did for us.  Thank you Joanne for being a friend. 

Tom Vittum 

Ohh my....!   This is terribly sad news and way too close to home.  We played together at Lee and at UF.   She even asked me to be her debutante party escort at a Timuquanna event and I think we managed to make the "front page of the drive in news".   This definately gives me cause for pause and reflection, and to ask for peace and comfort to her family.   

Joanne, my invitation was no more Alt Right than the man in the moon! A new group that founded by the left because they ran out of slurs! It is not up to you to dismiss me like I don't belong because I knew most of The 69 class! I came from Bishop Kenny which gave me the advantage of sharing classes with 67,68 and 69! Sorry you have such a negative attitude! Let's
Make it Great Again!