Jim Guy Gibson

A memorial service for Jim Guy Gibson, 95, will be held on Saturday, May 28, 2022 at 10:30 a.m. at Rose-Neath Funeral Home, 1815 Marshall St., Shreveport, Louisiana. A visitation will be held on Friday, May 27, 2022 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Officiating the service will be John Griffin. Jim was born August 24, 1926 to Edward Guy and Mettie Plunkett Gibson in Greenwood, Arkansas and died Thursday, May 19, 2022 in Shreveport, Louisiana. Jim graduated from C. E. Byrd High School and due to the fact that World War II was going on, he immediately wanted to enlist in the United States Navy even though he was only the tender age of 17 years old. To their credit, his parents signed the papers allowing him to enlist despite being under age and Jim was soon shipped off to California where he did his training as a UDT frog man, the group which was the predecessor to the present day Navy SEALs. He never did talk much about his days in the military during World War II until his grandchildren grew older and he may have felt that he needed to pass along some of the lessons that he learned during that period of his life. He served his country faithfully and thankfully came home one piece both mentally and physically and immediately continued his education at Centenary College of Louisiana. At Centenary, his brother, Louis, introduced him to the lady that would become his wife and the mother of his children, Joy Proctor. Immediately seizing the opportunity, Jim asked her on a date, and soon they were engaged and married soon thereafter. From that union, they had two daughters, Joyce Gibson and Cynthia Gibson Griffin. After starting in business with his father who is in the tank construction business, Jim followed his brother, Louis, in the life insurance business where he for some time was an agent Aetna Life and Casualty. He would become a general agent from MassMutual Life Insurance Company and continued with that company until his retirement. Later he would form the firm Gibson Griffin and Company Inc. with his son-in-law, John Griffin and its successor company continues until this day. Jim achieved many awards in the life insurance business, including million Dollar Round Table, Top of the Table and Agent of the Year with MassMutual. Although he had not always been that way, in the mid 1960\'s, Jim made a commitment to Jesus Christ and, from that point forward, his life changed tremendously. Both of his daughters remarked for years later that they saw a tremendous change in their father\'s life at the time. He embraced a relationship with God, and for many years Jim and Joy held prayer groups in their home in Spring Lake and welcomed people from all walks of life, to experience faith in Jesus Christ in their home. Later in life, Jim and Joy purchased the property in Texas and moved their home there where Jim enjoyed getting to work on his ranch and the peacefulness of country living. It would be there that their children and grandchildren would get to enjoy Sunday dinners with Jim\'s brisket and Joy\'s desserts and the grandchildren would get to raid their refrigerator on their frequent visits to their home. Later on, when he moved back into Shreveport to be closer to doctors and hospitals, he said that leaving the ranch was one of the saddest days of his life, having enjoyed every minute of the time that he lived and worked there. Always a faithful servant, later in his life after losing Joy, he would continue to say to all of his family that God was not through with him yet. And God continued to use him to witness his faith and be the rocksteady person for all who were around him. Jim is preceded in death by his parents; the love of his life for 67 years, Joy Gibson; sisters, Virginia Gibson Penfield and Lillian Gibson and brother, Louis Gibson. Left to cherish his memory are daughters, Joyce Gibson and Cindy Griffin and husband, John; five grandchildren, Jason Griffin and wife, Bibbin, David Griffin and wife, Erin, Elizabeth Griffin, Reagan Kathryn Reynolds and husband, Jeremy and Lawson Bennett; eight great-grandchildren; brother, Rev. Jack M. Gibson and a whole host of friends, some of whom have already gone on before him. The family would like to express special thanks to Barron O\'Neal who tirelessly took Jim to his farm almost each and every Sunday. He enjoyed those trips immensely. They would also like to express their thanks to the caregivers who attended to Jim in his final days and made his life comfortable, Dr. Wen Liu and Dr. Iqbal Singh and to the staff at Montclair, especially Nikki who saw him each and every day.