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Today we celebrate the life of Evelyn June Phillips Gibson who went to be with the Lord on February 11, 2021.  June was born on May 12, 1936 to Lily Pearl Whisenhunt Phillips and George C. Phillips of Telephone, Texas.  June had four older siblings that have all preceded her in death:  Brother George Alvin Phillips, and sisters Alice Eyvonne Hackler, Lily Pearl (Kewpie) Smith, and Lynn Barrow Barker.

June would talk about her early childhood education and how her daddy would go over the numbers with her when she was a young girl.  She went to school in High Prairie and then later Bonham High School.  After graduating at the very young age of sixteen, she went off to the big city of Dallas, Texas.  Her older sister, Eyvonne, would guide her in her adventure away from the Telephone metroplex.  While in Dallas, June went to a business school to further her secretarial skills.  We won't go into all the successful ventures as a secretary, but many said there was no better secretary than June.

Somewhere along the way, at First Baptist Church in Dallas, she met and was kidnapped for life by Art.  There may be two or three different stories as to how that came about, suffice it to say June's story was the correct one.  After Art's return from Air Force duty in Keflavik, Iceland, they married on February 22, 1958.  They moved to Miami, Florida where oldest son Greg was born.  Then when Art was transferred to Elemendorf AFB in Anchorage, Alaska, she was able to follow soon after.  Daughter Tammy was born there in Alaska.  A few years later, June and Art started a new life in Houston, Texas, where son Brad was born (and claims squatters rights for the state of Texas.)

June is survived by her husband of 63 years this month, Arthur Louis Gibson, and her three children Gregory Louis Gibson, Tamara Dee Gibson, and Arthur Bradley Gibson.  She has four grandchildren, Tyler Gibson, Shannon Stroud, Hunter Gibson, and Sean McDonough.  June also leaves a number of nieces and nephews that loved her like a mother, especially these last years after they lost their own.  She had some dear friends and neighbors who loved her and will miss her as well.  June was a generous soul loved by all who knew her.