Mordecai Thomas Gibson Jr

MORDECAI THOMAS GIBSON, JR. of Stevensville, MD died Sunday December 8, 2002 at his home. He was 89. Born on July 16, 1913 in Centreville, MD, he was the son of the late Mordecai Thomas Gibson, Sr. and Gertrude Hutchinson. Mordy was a graduate of Centreville High School class of 1931 and would later attend Washington College in Chestertown, MD. He began working with International Harvester on the Eastern Shore and in 1938 he was transferred to Washington, D.C. In 1941 he met and married Dorothy Ellis. During World War II, Mordy worked as a civil service inspector at the Chevrolet plant in Baltimore and in less than 6 months he was head inspector. In January of 1943, he moved to High Point, NC where he was assigned to inspect the Perley A. Thomas plant. At that time, Thomas was producing mobile workshops for the military. After the war, Mordy worked for five years with Southern Steel Stamping. The management of Thomas offered him their first Distributorship in Maryland. Up until then there was only one Thomas Built bus in Maryland, which was mounted on a Reo chassis, owned by Johnny Carr. This prompted Mordy to establish the Gibson Equipment Company, Inc. in 1950, the first Distributorship for Thomas Built Buses, Inc. In 1967 Gibson bought Arundel Bus Co., which is the city transit of Annapolis. In 1975 he sold both operations, Arundel Bus Company and Gibson Equipment Company, Inc., which is now American Bus Sales. Mr. Gibson was active with building the Church and Parsonage for the Nichols Bethel United Methodist Church in Odenton, MD. He had been active with Kent Island Lion’s Club, Kent Island Heritage Society, a charter member of the Kent Island Yacht Club, Annapolis Elks Lodge, and the Kent Island United Methodist Church. He is survived by his wife of 61 years of marriage, Dorothy Ellis Gibson of Stevensville, MD; a son, Robert R. Gibson and his wife, Cynthia of Annapolis, MD; a son, Mordecai Thomas “Tom” Gibson, III; a brother, John “Jack” W. Gibson; three sisters, Ida Denny, Elizabeth “Icky” Tolson and Catherine Bradley all predeceased him. Funeral Service will be held at 2PM on Thursday, December 12, 2002 at the Kent Island United Methodist Church in Chester, MD. Family and friends may call at the Fellows, Helfenbein & Newnam Funeral Home, P.A. in Chester, MD. on Wednesday, 6PM to 8PM. Interment will be private. The family requests that memorial contributions be made to Hospice of Queen Anne’s, Inc., 300 Del Rhodes Ave., Queenstown, MD 21658 or Alzheimer''s Association Eastern Shore Chapter, P.O. Box 2233, Salisbury, MD 21802-2233.