The Fayetteville Press April/May 2013 Edition Page 11

OBITUARYPAGE

erring Funeral Care & Cremations2720 Murchison Road * Fayetteville, North Carolina 28301(910) 488-6217 * Fax: (910) 488-9387

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A Celebration of Life ForBertha Beatrice Desdemona Whittington Gibbs

103 S. Clinton AvenueDunn, NC 28334

910.292.2026910.292.2036

CALL US FOR YOUR FLORAL NEEDS

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W E S P E C I A L I Z E I N W E D D I N G S A N D F U N E R A L S

In Loving MemoryAntwone T. Jones

December 31, 1977November 3, 2001

Police are seeking informaton inconnection with the death of Antwone T.

Jones. Jones’ body was found on November 4,2001 in a wooded area near Gillis Hill and Stoneyroads. The area is near the Hoke County line.Antwone was 23 at the time of his death and livedat Desert Ridge Road Trailer Park in Parkton, NC.

The Fayetteville/Cumberland CountyCrimestoppers is offering a reward up to $8,000for information leading to an arrest.

Call (910) 483-TIPS

Antwone T. Jones

Edgar ColonVirginia M. JohnsonFairley MurdockRichard B. IssacHalie E. DavisWilliam E. KellerDamon BryantMajor WrightConstance MorrisStella M. CrouchPeral A. CollinsJames A. McneillValparisia BannamonThomas DutterDaShawn D. KellyJoseph D. AutrySakura C. DavisFrank F. RobinsonShaun McBrideCarolyn ParkerHattie H. BurnsJames McAllisterGwendolyn F. SmithChristine E. BenoitDonald CrawfordRebecca M. ThorneJoshua L. MaultsbyValerie D. CantrellLeo McNeillDelores MurphySusie MackBruce BowmanJohn Bledsoe IIISamuel U. Johnson

Lessie ArmfieldGreen J. TruckerPamela ThomasGlen T. McPhersonCatherine StovallBeulah P. FullerMonroe RascoeAlberta J. WalkerElla M. MillianGerald L. BlueHope GilliardRichard H. JonesGertrude M. TolsonLeonardo D. CroweWanda G. HallErnest C. SandersCora Little PageMarion CrosbySu Y. MohammedEugene S. OrientaleAnna H. WheelerMattie R. CogdellJessie RobinsonMicala BriscoeYenoia M. JohnsonGary L. MckellarAlbert J. JohnsonLarry H. OmeirEdna F. WilliamsCara L. WilliamsDonnie BeardEvelena S. WoodSarah C. HarrisTheressa BrownWarren Johnson

Bertha Beatrice Desdemona WhittingtonGibbs, 94, most recently of Fayetteville, NC,made her transition April 3, 2013, after a valiantbattle with cancer.

Born in Goldsboro, NC, on October 19,1918, to Samuel Windsor and Bertha KincaidWhittington, she married the love of her life,James Albert Gibbs, Jr., on Christmas Eve,1943. Blessed with a natural curiosity and a loveof the arts that lasted until the very end, she wasthe embodiment of grace and beauty.

A graduate of Fisk University, class of1938 (BS Mathematics), and an active memberof the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority for 78 years(Pi Chapter, Fisk University and Graduate Chap-ters in Boston and Chicago), Bertha received adegree in Library Sciences from University ofIllinois in 1943. A member of the American Li-brary Association and The Special LibrariesAssociation, her special librarian training wouldlaunch a 40 year career that took her to Ken-tucky State College, Hampton Institute, FiskUniversity, Virginia Union University, HarvardUniversity, the Boston University Library, the Il-linois Institute of Technology, the library at theField Museum of Natural History, University ofChicago’s John Crerar Library, as well as theChicago Public Library. She retired in 1982 fromthe Carter G. Woodson Regional Library.

An accomplished seamstress and pia-nist, she shared her love of the arts, fabrics, andmusic with her “Gibbs Girls”, Judith Carol ofBronx, NY; Cynthia Wilson of Fayetteville, NC;Karen Gibbs of Owings Mills, MD; and LeonaGibbs Mayo of Chicago, IL. Bertha exhibited

her community activism through her workwith the October Circle and the CouplesClub of the Congregational Church of ParkManor UCC, the Chicago Fisk AlumniClub, and her service as Brownie TroopLeader in Boston and Chicago. With herhusband James, she wrote letters to Presi-dent Johnson, Vice-president Humphrey, andIllinois Senator Dirksen urging the passageof the Civil Rights Act of 1964. She proudlyvoted for President Barack Obama – twice.

Her insatiable curiosity and child-likewonder made her a great travel buddy andled her to adventures in China, Hawaii, andMexico; cruises to the Caribbean; languageclasses in Russian and Chinese, as well asculinary classes from the renowned chef,Alma Loch.

A cast iron skillet disguised as adiminutive china doll, she relished her roleas matriarch. Sharp of mind, quick of witand blessed with an infectious laugh, Ber-tha was truly a renaissance woman – ex-celling at mathematics when many womenwere demeaned for being smart, yetgrounded in the traditions of her family(pressing her daughters’ hair) and history,chronicling important family milestones andpassing down favorite cookie (hermits) andbrad (biscuit and yeast rolls) recipes tosucceeding generations.

Bertha was preceded in death bher husband James (1989), her sisterAurelia Elizabeth Whittington Franklin andbrother-in-law Dr. John Hope Franklin, herbrother Samuel Wall Whittington and hiswife Ernestine Whittington, and her grand-son Kenneth Chioke Capers. Her pass-ing is mourned not only by her daughters,but by her son-in-laws, James Randal Wil-son, Jr. and Thomas Bolton May III andher grandchildren, Jasmine Ramona Wil-son and Jared Rustin Wilson. NieceVanessa Whittington Brown and nephewsSam Whittington, John Whittington Franklinand Joseph Ronald Bunton will also missthe presence of Aunt Pard. She careddeeply for each family member.

Services of Comfort and Love to the FamilyEntrusted To:

Herring Funeral Care and Cremations2720 Murchison Road & Fay. NC 28301

(910) 488-6217