Lewis Vernon Gibson

On April 13, 1940, the Lord saw fit to bless Darden and Ardella (Zachary) Gibson of Marvell, Arkansas with their sixth child, Lewis Vernon Gibson. On May 10, 2024, the Lord called Lewis home. He professed his faith in Jesus Christ at an early age at Mt. Olive Baptist Church in Marvell and went on to become a licensed minister as a young adult.

Lewis graduated from M.M. Tate High School in Marvell and matriculated to AM & N College (now UAPB) in Pine Bluff.  He also completed post-graduate work at the University of Arkansas and University of Central Arkansas. Armed with a degree in agriculture and an education certificate, Lewis held several teaching positions and administrative positions over a nearly 40-year span as a school principal and math teacher in Marianna, Marvell, Rison, Holly Grove, and Forrest City.  He retired as a math teacher from Horace Mann Middle Magnet School in Little Rock.

He met and married Althea Veona Mosely and to this union they were blessed with 4 sons and 1 daughter - Raymond, Willard, Vernon, Johnathan, and Ardella. 

Lewis loved the Lord! He answered the call to serve the Lord by pastoring churches in Marianna, Poplar Grove, Forrest City and Marvell.  And ever the lover of numbers, Lewis was an accomplished accountant who served several clients in Pulaski and Crittenden counties.  

Lewis was preceded in death by his parents, Darden and Ardella as well as siblings, Norma Jean Gibson Kirby Hoover, Lloyd, Sr., Franklin, Grover Cleveland (G.C.), Troy, and Georgia Mary Gibson O'Neal. 

He leaves to cherish his memories his beloved children, Raymond (Regina) of Little Rock, Willard of Houston, TX, Vernon (Sonja) of Lithonia, GA, Jonathan of Tulsa, OK, and Ardella of Elgin, IL as well as siblings, Geraldine Gibson Nelson (Texarkana) and LaVerne Gibson Goldsby (Little Rock), 3 grandchildren and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.

Lewis Vernon Gibson's favorite poem was Invictus - a writing about self-determination. When given the opportunity, he would recite it with the intense fervor the words required. 

INVICTUS

Out of the night that covers me

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance,

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate

I am the captain of my soul.