Samuel Gibbs Milliken Jr.

I pulled out an old photo album containing pictures I took on a group trip to Venezuela with Gibbs 20 years ago. I wanted to see again the one where he got up and spontaneously started playing the drums with a group of musicians and singers at the resort in Canaima. Then I thought about the airplane ride (727) into Canaima, where Gibbs got so excited because we had some crazy Venezuelan pilot that he had told us stories about in Caracas. We had taken his stories about this guy with a grain...

Gibbs Milliken and I were childhood best friends from the time we were about 6 years old until his family relocated from Houston to Kerrville in the late 40’s. We lived about a block from each other and got together just about every day. Gibbs was in a private school so we only had the afternoons, during the week.

One our favorite activities was to get caught up in the latest radio episodes of Terry and the Pirates, Captain Midnight, Jack Armstrong, and a host of other programs...

Gibbs was the father of one of my best friends, Adana. I don't know how many times we would spend the night at the Milliken's house and sneak around Gibbs' studio among the beads, masks, blowguns, butterflies, shells, canvases, and more. It was an exciting place full of treasures and stories, all of which Gibbs was more than happy to spend hours regaling us with (and perhaps embellishing a bit, too). He was there when I caught a 24" redfish in Port Aransas on the jetty, he brought a shaman to...

First met Gibbs on an expedition to Venezuela with my dad in 1993. It is still one of the most interesting trips we've had together. Later I knew Gibbs as a friend and customer at the local sporting goods store I worked for. Gibbs was one of a kind, the Amazon wont be the same without him.

Gibbs was very influential to Karen and myself. Over two decades ago he planted the seeds that eventually became our wilderness project Proyecto de Buceo Espeleologico Mexico y America Central. His gift to us gave us the world. He was often discussed around the campfire and when we had our little jungle home in Belize we realized that we had been there before with Gibbs and his stories.
Through his stories he allowed us see the natural world in its detail, much as his art did. He had...

Gibbs was a down the street neighbor of ours on Rolling Wood Dr in Austin when we moved there in 1967. In that year we purchased two of his numbered prints directly from him (wheat & butterfly) They have hung in our home since. Now in LV NV. Wish I could have known him better. A talented gentleman and true Texan.

The classroom unravelled as yet another grand adventure for Gibbs Milliken. For an avid outdoorsman who doubled as an arts educator, Milliken understood that eager young minds were but verdant landscapes, awaiting the gentle rain of a kindly, generous teacher. Gibbs viewed the student intellect with as much fascination as he did the forest primeval. Their burgeoning insights were like delicate and fascinating flowers in a jungle canopy. Thus he revelled in offering creative possibility to...

From the moment I met Tamara's dad, Gibbs Milliken, I knew he was a force of nature! For me, his greatest legacy is his daughter, Tamara, who embodies his loving spirit and unsurpassed kindness. Although we can't be with you to celebrate his life, we will rejoice by enjoying the day and living it to the fullest. "We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind..."

I am glad that our careers intersected after I came to UT, so very long ago, in 1970, to take on administrative responsibilities in the Institute of Latin American Studies. Gibbs was one of the truly outstanding colleagues in our program, and every encounter was a delight, whether in the halls, in a committee meeting, or when he came in to discuss a project. His suggestions and project proposals were invariably of high merit, and simply observing his creative mind at work through the ideas he...