Roger Gibbons | Insurance firm owner, 73

Roger Gibbons, 73, of Bethel Township, an insurance company owner, died of cancer last Monday at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Gibbons graduated from Chichester High School in 1952 and was a Marine sergeant in Korea during the Korean War.

After his discharge, he sold life insurance for other companies before establishing the Gibbons Insurance Agency in Boothwyn in 1964. Though his son, Mark, now runs the firm, Mr. Gibbons was in the office every day until becoming ill last year, said his wife, Marilyn Lowe Gibbons. He and his wife had been high school sweethearts and were married for 54 years.

Mr. Gibbons was past president of Chichester Rotary and the Lower Delaware County Lions Club. He was a Mason and a volunteer with the Marine Corps' Toys for Tots and with the Purple Heart Service Foundation.

While volunteering at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Coatesville, he saw that patients were having trouble watching the small-screen TV and bought them a big-screen TV the next day, his wife said. He purchased the American flags that line Chichester Avenue in Boothwyn.

Upper Chichester Township honored Mr. Gibbons for his community service by naming a park in Boothwyn for him.

Mr. Gibbons enjoyed his vacation homes at the Jersey Shore and in the Poconos, and was a fan of Philadelphia sports teams. He never missed his two grandsons' athletic events, his wife said.

He is survived by his wife, son and grandsons.

A funeral will be held at 10 a.m. today at the Pagano Funeral Home, 3711 Foulk Rd., Boothwyn, where friends may call after 8:30. Burial will be in Lawn Croft Cemetery, Linwood.