Jessma Hazel Smith GIBSON

GIBSON, Jessma Hazel Smith April 5, 1927 - Oct. 24, 2010 Age 83, of Encino, Jessma passed away from emphysema, the result of a genetic lung disease. Jessma, like her name, was truly one of a kind. Born in Nashville, North Carolina, her fondest childhood memories were weekends at her grandparents' home with her brothers and sisters, staging plays in her family's backyard and overcoming stage fright to take center stage in her high school productions. After attending Smith College, she traveled cross country to California, working as an executive assistant on Mojave and Point Mugu Naval Air Bases. It's there she met the love of her life, and husband of 55 years, Colonel Winfield Scott Gibson. After just three weeks of marriage, Scott was stationed in Japan, separating them for a year. When a challenging 12 day voyage offered the opportunity to reunite them, she did not hesitate to go. There she developed a lifetime love of Japanese music, culture and art. In the following years, she would make over a dozen moves, each one turning a house into a home. And when her husband was sent to Vietnam, she showed courage on the homefront, caring for three sons, and a newborn daughter. But her greatest gift, her greatest joy, was the gift of service. Jessma was an amazing sister, wife, mother of four, grandmother of 16, and great-grandmother of five. She served as a Red Cross volunteer comforting soldiers, President of Valley Heart Guild raising money for Children's Hospital, and a deacon at her church. She loved people, and always offered her honest opinion, tempered by a twinkle in her eye and a great sense of humor. Most importantly, she never let the disease she was born with define her life, but how she handled it, defined who she was as a person. She set an example of love, resilience, and courage few can match, and to her family, she will always be our "Steel Magnolia."