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Gerald Don “Gerry” Gibson, passed away on November 18, 2025, at the age of 86. The youngest child of Felix and Lucy Viola Webb Gibson of Marshal, Texas. He was married to Emily Ann Cooper-Gibson of Arkadelphia, Arkansas.Born on November 22, 1938, in Marshall, Texas at the home of his parents on Oakley Drive, Gerald received his education in the public schools of Marshall. He received his BS in music and his MS in musicology from the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, and his MS in Library Science from Syracuse University. Following his start in the Texas All State Band and the Marshall Symphony Orchestra in the 1950’s before entering college, Gerald continued his career as a bassoonist at the Eastman School Music. Ensembles include the Eastman Wind Ensemble and the Eastman Philharmonia, both of which toured in the United States, Europe and North Africa, and recorded for commercial labels while he was a member. After graduation from college, Gerald continued to work as a symphony orchestra musician in such ensembles as the Rochester-, Syracuse-, and Corning-, New York Symphony Orchestras.Gerald changed careers in the 1960’s and became a librarian. First at the Eastman School of Music’s Sibley Musical Library, Rochester, New York for 6 years and then at the Library of Congress (LC) in Washington, D.C. for 30 years. While at the LC he was Curator of their audio, film and video collection for 17 years, then and now the largest collection of such materials in the world. Then ended his work as the LC’s Preservation Specialist for Non-Paper Media and Data. In both positions he helped develop the national library’s procedure and techniques for handling, evaluation, accelerated aging, and life expectancy testing of magnetic tape and then the new optical disc media and data. While at the LC, Gerald also carried out private consultations on the full range of topics related to audio, film and video media and data and their archiving for a number of institutions and collections throughout the world, including UNESCO Paris, the National Archives of Trinidad and Tobago, the New York Public Library at Lincoln Center, the Institute for Jazz Studios at Rutgers University, Syracuse University, University of California/Berkley, University of California/Santa Barber, the Edison National Historic Site of the National Park Service, Yale University, Syracuse University, Stanford University, and the National Archives of the United States.Throughout his career Gerald served in a number of elected positions in national and international professional associations, and as the official voting representative of the Sibley Musical Library’s and/or the Library of Congress. These have included such as the UNESCO, the Association of Recorded Collections (ARSC), the International Association of Audiovisual Archives (IASA), the Music Library Association (MLA), the Audio Preservation Standards Committee of the Audio Engineering Society (AES/APSC), as well as three different International Standards Committee (ISO) working groups.Gerald returned to Marshall on retirement in 2004 to care for his wife, Emily, who had been seriously injured in a car accident. On her passing in 2016, Gerald became actively involved in such groups as the Harrison County Historical Commission, the Harrison County Historical Museum, the Marshall Music Club, the Friends of the Marshall Public Library, and the Inez Hatley Hughes Research Library. Among other projects he was Chairman of the Historical Museum’s Library Committee leading up to their move into new facilities in 2019, was an officer in the Marshall Music Club, the Friends of the Public Library and the County Historical Museums. He carried out research on the location and documentation of the 21+ Rosenwald funded country schools in Harrison County as well as the cemeteries, churches, schools, medical facilities, and post offices of Harrison County. His contributions to the community were recognized with the Harrison County Historical Commission’s and the Harrison County Historical Museum’s Marjorie Perkins Award for Outstanding Volunteer of the Year in 2018.Gerald was preceded in death by his wife, Emily; his parents, Felix and Lucy Viola Webb Gibson; his sister, Johnnie Bell Gibson Lanier and brother, James Galen Gibson.He is survived by his sister-in-law, Marth Gibson of Marshall; niece, Lisa Slater and her husband, Don of Texarkana; nephew, Jack Welch and his wife, Denise of Marshall and grand nieces and nephews and their families.Memorials may be made to the Inez Hatley Hughes Research Library of the Harrison County Historical Museum, Marshall, Texas

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