June Gibson

1922 - 2020

June Noble Larkin Gibson
June Noble Larkin Gibson, of Greenwich, CT, passed away peacefully on June 23, surrounded by family at her home on the property where she lived her entire life. She was born in New York City on June 17, 1922, to Ethel Louise Tinkham and Edward John Noble. She is survived by three of her four sons, Edward John Noble Smith (Maribeth), David Shiverick Smith Jr. (Jordan) and Jeremy Tinkham Smith; seven grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her son, Bradford Delano Smith (2008); her sister, Sally Noble (1944); her husbands, Frank Y. Larkin and John M. Gibson, and her former husband, David S. Smith.
June's father, Edward John Noble, was a well-known industrialist and philanthropist who co-founded the candy company Life Savers and later founded the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), in addition to several other companies and hospitals. June dedicated her adult life to philanthropic endeavors, serving on the boards of several charitable organizations dedicated to supporting the arts and education in New York, including in New York City, East Hampton and the Thousand Islands.
She served as Chairman and President of the Edward John Noble Foundation and the St. Catherine's Island Foundation. She particularly enjoyed her tenure on the board, and later as a life trustee, of the Museum of Modern Art. Her love of music and the arts was deeply inspirational. She served as the first woman chairperson of The Juilliard School from 1985 to 1994, and on the boards of Jazz at Lincoln Center, of which she was a co-founder, and Guild Hall of East Hampton. In 1981, President Ronald Regan appointed her to the Presidential Task Force on the Arts and Humanities. Education was another of her passions. She served as the first woman chairperson and a life trustee of Sarah Lawrence College and as a life trustee of Eaglebrook School in Deerfield, Massachusetts. She earned honorary degrees from St. Lawrence University, the Mannes School of Music and The Juilliard School. In addition to her philanthropic work, June served as a board member of U.S. Trust Company of Connecticut.
Funeral services will be private.