Jesse Douglas Gilbert

1923 - 2014

Graveside services will be held Jan. 5, 2015, at 11 a.m. in the Barrancas National Cemetery in Pensacola Naval Air Station. He was one of four boys in a family of seven. He and two brothers served in World War II, one of which was killed in Germany and buried in U.S. Cemetery in Maargraten, Holland. Grateful local residents adopt each grave. The youngest brother was also in the military but too young to be in the war.
He served in the Navy on the USS Saratoga. One experience he had as an aircraft machinist mate was a storm at sea so violent that he looked down from one end of his aircraft carrier and could see the roaring ocean under his feet.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Margie; his parents, Norman Eldred and Betty Elizabeth Gilbert; and his brothers, John P. Gilbert, Luther Honre Gilbert and George Eldred Gilbert. He is survived by his sisters, Billie Jean Davison, Kathryn Kimbrell Fore (Lonnie) and Carolyn Weiskopf; and sisters-in-law, Pat Gilbert and Charlene Gilbert. He is also survived by children, Carol Cook, Phyllis (Charles) Peck, Larry (Barbara) Gilbert and Jennifer (Joseph) Sams; five grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; and many beloved nieces and nephews.
He was also a retired aircraft mechanic, loved Bass fishing (in the fishing boat he customized himself) and bird hunting with the many dogs he had over the years. He possessed a quick wit, never met a stranger and will be missed by all who knew him.
Arrangements provided by Brackney Funeral Service.