Robert P. Gibson, who was elected to public office during Dwight Eisenhower’s first year in the White House, died on January 12. He was 102.
A decorated World War II combat veteran born on the front porch of his mother’s home in Hampton while Calvin Coolidge was president, is likely among the last living people to have been on the ballot in 1953, part of a Republican ticket in Hunterdon County headed by gubernatorial candidate Paul Troast and State Senate nominee Wesley Lance.
Gibson’s legacy came more from his service in the U.S. Army. He was drafted in March 1943, at age 18, while a senior in high school; Gibson was already overseas on graduation day, so his father accepted his diploma for him – not an unusual occurrence during World War II. He was assigned to the 116th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion, and on D-Day, June 6, 1944, Gibson was part of the second wave that landed at Utah Beach. He served through Normandy and into France, and then to Germany.
During the Battle of the Bulge, Gibson’s unit engaged German tanks and armored vehicles as he crossed the Rhine River. He remained in Europe until Germany surrendered in May 1945 and was honorably discharged on December 6, 1945.
“He never forgot the sight of fallen American soldiers in the surf as he maneuvered his tractor through the chaos of battle. Despite arriving after the initial assault troops, the danger remained extreme, and two members of his battery were killed shortly afterward by artillery fire,” Gibson’s friends and family said in a statement provided by the Warren Hills Memorial Home.
Gibson was 30 when he was elected to the Hampton Borough Council. He was re-elected in 1955, 1957, 1959, 1961, and 1963.
After Mayor William Winter decided to run for Hunterdon County Freeholder in 1965, Gibson ran for mayor without opposition. He was re-elected in 1967 and 1969 and was not a candidate for election in 1971. Gibson was succeeded by a Democrat, Hugh Farley.
Gibson had no ambition for higher office. Instead, he was committed to his work as a volunteer firefighter. He joined the Hampton Fire Company in 1949 and served as fire chief in 1957 and 1958.
In 1975, Gibson’s wife, Arlene, was appointed to fill a vacant seat on the borough council.
“Bob’s passing closes a chapter of living history, but the example he set will endure for generations. He showed what it means to stand firm in the face of fear, to serve without seeking recognition, and to live each day with purpose and humility,” his obituary noted. “As we say goodbye, we honor not only the remarkable things he accomplished, but the man he was—a loyal husband, a steadfast friend, a dedicated firefighter, a devoted public servant, and a humble hero. His legacy lives on in the community he cherished, in the freedoms he fought to protect, and in the countless lives he touched simply by being Bob Gibson.”
Editor’s note: the New Jersey Globe regh the tardiness of this obituary.