Katherine May Gibbs, 92

She was born Katherine May Wright on May 8, 1930, in Littleton, N.H. She was the oldest of her siblings and lived with her parents on Union Street. She attended until the eighth grade and had to quit school when she was needed at home to help her mom raise her youngest sister and brother, who would pay her in nickels and dimes so she could buy her siblings ice cream or go see a movie with her sister, Midge.

She married on May 15, 1952, to a young and very handsome Army soldier that had proposed to her by saying, “We get married, or I am buying a car?” She became Mrs. Gilman F. Gibbs and moved into a small, modest home on South Road in Bethlehem, N.H.

She gave birth to four children, Pam, Dan, Sally and Sandra. She maintained her home and her children and, when her husband came home from helping his parents in Idaho, he said, "We are moving to Idaho."

She moved to Idaho with her husband and children on May 15, 1965. Her new home was located just down the street from her husband’s parents’ home. It was known as the fifth house on the right.

It was a small, modest home, slightly crowded, but when times changed, she saw her small home become more accommodating for her and her children.

She loved being outdoors, her husband put in a garden for her and whenever her grandchildren came to see her, into the garden they would go. Picking green beans off the vine and even playing hide and go seek.

She loved country music; Eddy Arnold was her favorite singer. When disco came around the house, there were three songs she loved to sing, “I Love the Night Life,” “Morning Train” and “Walking After Midnight.” She changed words because she was rocking her grandchildren to sleep. One of her granddaughter's memories are: “She always had popsicles for us, we got to pick our own veggies from the garden to go with dinner, even if she had to cook a different meal. She went bike riding with us around the neighborhood, she gave the best hugs and the sound of her voice was contagious, her laugh was infectious for all.”

She loved to bake. She was known for her buttermilk cake doughnuts. This recipe was handed down from generation to generation, and she loved having our school friends come over and watch them devour them. She always made a triple batch, (Wednesdays were the day we didn’t ride the school bus, because our friends gave us a ride from school so they could have a doughnut.) Sometimes she would send one of her grandkids a care package of peanut butter cookies and buttermilk cake doughnuts for studying for a test.

She was always home when we got home from school. She was very pleased to see each of her children receive their high school diplomas, as well as her grandchildren receive theirs as well. She was even more pleased when a few of us went to college and received additional diplomas.

She always told us to do the best we can with whatever we were doing in life. Whether it was school, work or raising our own children, she always supported us and encouraged us to be better.

She is preceded in death by her parents, William Wright and Jennie (Bowker) Wright; her siblings, Bill Wright, Marion Beasaw, Caroline “Babe” Wright, and David Wright; her husband, Gilman F. Gibbs; and two grandchildren, Stephanie Lee Gibbs and April Joyce Rody.

Katherine May Wright Gibbs' celebration of life will be conducted at 3 p.m., Monday, May 8, 2023. in Coffelt’s Funeral Chapel with Dale G. Coffelt officiating.

Family and friends are invited to sign Katherine’s online guest book at www.coffeltfuneral.com.

Arrangements are under the care of Coffelt Funeral Service.