Our beloved father and grandfather, Dr. Harry (Doc) L. Gibbons, Sr, passed away peacefully on November 10, 2019 in Spokane, WA. Harry was born, three months early, on February 1, 1930 to Harry and Mabel Gibbons. Harry was raised mostly in the Pasadena Park area of the Spokane Valley, where he attended a two-room grade school. Due to his father's military service, the family, which included siblings Miriam and George lived in various places; Florida, Virginia and Tacoma, where Harry witnessed the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Harry graduated from West Valley High School in Spokane in 1948. After only two years of undergraduate study at Eastern Washington College and University of Washington Harry went to medical school at the University of Oregon in Portland, OR and earned his DMD (Doctor of Medical dentistry) in 1954. He then enlisted as an officer in the US Air Force and was quickly promoted to the rank of Captain. He was stationed at Hills Air Force Base as part of the medical and dentistry unit until the spring of 1957.

Prior to dental school, Harry married his cherished wife, Jacqueline (Jackie) Payne of 64 years on December 10, 1949. Harry is survived by his son Harry Gibbons (Maribeth) of Bainbridge Island, WA and his daughter Barb Parker of Spokane. He is also survived by his grandchildren Ryan, Michael, step-grandchild Chris Parker (April), three great-grandchildren and many treasured friends. He was preceded in death by his wife Jackie, son-in-law Les, and his sister Miriam.

Harry moved his family to Fairfield in August of 1958 where he devotedly practiced dentistry through 2007. Because of his desire to help people he got involved in town politics and was elected to the town council in 1960. He served as mayor from 1964 to 1969 and again from 1978 to 1989. He was mayor pro-tem from 1994 until 1998 while the current mayor was in the hospital and rehabilitation. He also served on the city council from 2009 until 2017. The Town of Fairfield proclaimed May 1, 2018 as Dr. Harry Gibbons Day for his many years of service as a dentist, long-time volunteer, as well as an elected official. During the late seventies and thru the nineties he served on the boards of SCAPCA, Spokane Planning Commission, Spokane County Regional Development, and Spokane County Public Health.

Harry led many activities during the annual Fairfield Flag Day Celebration, which included writing and directing the annual variety show with much local talent and "Harry's Girls". He was also active in the Spokane Civic Theater as an actor and director for a couple of decades until the early nineties.

Harry loved to vacation on the road with his family and visited many of the parks and public lands in the west, encompassing six decades of summer explorations that were fun, rewarding and expanded his and his families view of the world. He also enjoyed playing cards with his friends and participated in the local bowling team. He enjoyed the outdoors and spent as much time as he could in the garden, at the lake (CDA and Badger) and just being with people.