Robert E Gibson

1925 - 2020
Robert Edwin Gibson (formerly Goldeman), born July 18, 1925, in New York City, died August 6, 2020, at his home in Arlington VA, after a long struggle with cancer. He was 95 years old.

He is survived by his wife, Joanne Gibson, his former wife, Majida Gibson, his daughter, Stephanie B. Gibson, his sons Adam W. Gibson and Jed D. (daughter-in-law Sandy) Gibson, his stepson Jon Medlinsky, and five grandchildren.

Bob graduated with the inaugural class of Lafayette High School in Brooklyn New York, in 1943, and went directly into the Army Air Corps, before his 18th birthday. After serving as a navigator in WWII, Bob obtained a BA at Columbia University and completed most of his work toward an MA in Sociology. He began his career in early television as the director of The Merry Mailman and worked in the industry for several years before seeking out a position as a business consultant in the mid-1950s. Until his retirement he worked as a executive at a number of different companies, always guiding them toward success.

Bob was expansively articulate, outgoing, and charming. He engaged everyone he met and was always able to speak to their interests. He followed politics relentlessly and wove many a conversation about the state of the world, about which he was deeply concerned. He watched every Sunday morning news show every week. When he developed a new interest, or an old interest took a turn, Bob would research it in depth and he remembered everything. His mind was always percolating.

He was involved in the creation of the Arlington Learning and Retirement Institute (ALRI, now called Encore Learning). For many years he participated in a memoir writing group and tales of his life are on his blog (bobjoey.net).

Bob loved many things, but none quite as much as precision. He taught his children that there are solutions for everything if only one attends to the world as one attends to algebra: somewhere, somehow there is a formula to solve each problem. He loved many things: opera, history, food, storytelling, building things, solving problems, technology. He set up his many home tech systems to be near-impenetrable if you are not an electrical engineer. He was a meticulous reader and note taker. In Bob's house people were usually identified by their politics, and he supported numerous progressive causes. He remained all these things until the end, never relinquishing his vigilant way of observing the world.

A memorial will be planned when we can safely gather again. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to Capital Area Food Bank (https://www.capitalareafoodbank.org).