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Meg posted a condolence
Sunday, January 21, 2024
I came across this obituary while I was searching for John Gilbreath. I have been transcribing letters my father wrote to my mother when he was in Vietnam, and John features in them quite frequently. He and my Dad (Edward P Hart) were apparently roommates in My Tho, and in one letter my father said, "John Gilbreath is due back from the movie soon, and I know I won’t get anything done after he gets home. He’s a real nut, but a real morale booster.". That was quite something coming from my father, who was quite a nut himself. My father also mentions Capt Gilbreath (at the time) putting my father's name in for the Combat Infantrymen's Badge, for which he was grateful. I just wanted to drop this not to say at one time in 1966, two young officers kept each other's morale up during a scary war, and they are still remembered very fondly today. My father died in May 2016 so perhaps they will find each other in heaven.
Kind Regards,
Meg Hart
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Adelaida Kee-Edjoc posted a condolence
Friday, July 27, 2018
Dear Josefa!
Please accept my heartfelt condolences for the passing of your beloved John. May your faith and the love and support of family and friends comfort you and see you through thtis very difficult time. John lives in your heart and those he had touched during his lifetime.
Love and prayers,
Ade
MCS
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Eric, Dolora Sillman & Family lit a candle
Monday, June 25, 2018
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Our hearts and prayers are with you on Johns passing. He was one of my only true friends here in Tucson. We will miss you John. Rest easy.
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Kristoffer J. Gilbreath posted a condolence
Friday, June 15, 2018
Kristoffer J. Gilbreath's Tribute to his Dad John (Read by Grandson Garrett on behalf of his Uncle Kris, during the Eulogy June 14, 2018)
Dear Friends and Family
Unfortunately my health does not permit me to attend but I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the life of my father. I thank Jo for her commitment to him and for sticking through the good times and the bad. She is a testament to patience! We love you Jo and I know my Dad loved you so much.
If any of you really knew my father you know that he loved to tell stories, he loved to laugh, and he knew how to have fun. He was never unwilling to try something new and had an adventurous spirit about him. We made so many trips together and each of them more precious than the last. These are memories that will stick with all of us for a lifetime.
Within many of my father’s stories, he often had special points to make about life. I have related many of these to my own children and they are timeless. My father was very intelligent and had a good grasp on making it through this difficult period that we call life.
I am reminded of one particular story that he told me about a friend of his. I will call him Bob since I can never remember the gentleman’s name. Bob worked with my father in San Diego and was somewhat older and close to retirement. My father asked him what he planned to do when he retired and Bob replied that he and his wife had purchased a large sailboat and planned to sail around the world, seeing the sites, and really living life. Bob went into great detail about his plans, the boat, and everything surrounding it. Of course as my father worked very hard he looked upon Bob’s plans as a great idea for his later years and was very inspired.
It wasn’t long after that we had a boat in our driveway. While nowhere near a sailboat it was fun to play in and we had a great time with it. A few years later my Dad saw Bob somewhere in San Diego. Bob was wearing all white, he was very tan, he was the smiling picture of a wonderful retirement. My father asked him how he was and Bob regaled him with stories of traveling the world, sipping wonderful drinks on his boat, and visiting tropical ports of call that we all only dream about.
Of course this only served to spirit my Dad’s plans for the future. He talked many times about how good Bob looked and how relaxed he seemed. It reminded me of the Margaritaville song by Jimmy Buffett. At least that’s what I pictured in my mind when he would talk about Bob.
For years my father told people this story of Bob and he had a way of telling it that made it seem like you’d be a fool to do anything else with your own retirement.
One day several years later my Dad saw Bob downtown in San Diego. At first he didn’t recognize him and after a minute it dawned on him who it was. Bob looked terrible! He looked more homeless than he did happy, that was for sure. He was so thin and wrinkled, his clothes were disheveled and he did not look well. My father approached him and asked Bob what had happened. Bob told him that his wife had left him, he had become an alcoholic, his boat had been stolen, and he’d been in jail in Mexico, and so on. Bob relayed that the easy life had consumed him and things really got out of control.
Needless to say my father’s bubble had burst. Obviously this was no longer the plan for his retirement and back we went to the grindstone to find something else. Nevertheless my father continued to tell this story to many people over the years. It was a great lesson in how we get so focused on what we believe is best that we miss the important details.
While many of my father’s stories were meant to be amusing he had a way of spinning lessons he’d learned into them. Rarely did he not have a story to fit within a specific circumstance. I learned a lot by listening to him and truly I never got tired of those stories. We had such a great time during our time together and I will miss his levity, his zest for life, and his drive and determination. He certainly was a great man.
As we say goodbye to him I would ask all of you to reflect on something that he told you and remember it always. Maybe even write it down. In this way his spirit will live on within our hearts and minds and those around us will be able to benefit from his experiences as we all did. My father lived a very interesting life. And we should all aspire to do as much with our own lives.
Goodbye dear father. I love you. I love you Jo, I love you Eric, and I’d like to thank all of you who helped my father in his later years. Our family does appreciate you so much.
J
Jo Gilbreath posted a condolence
Friday, June 15, 2018
For John from Jo (Read by Jo during the Eulogy June 14, 2018)
My beloved Johnny, my budgie love of my life, I am comforted that you are now with our Heavenly Father. It is so hard to accept that you are no longer here with us –Your children Eric and Kris, your sister Doris Ann, your best friend forever beloved cousin Dolora, my parents and siblings, all our families, relatives, and friends are grieving with me on your unexpected departure. But we cannot question God’s plan for each of us. Rest assured my love that I will continue to be strong and savor life to the fullest with all its challenges, and adventures as you have lived and have taught me, comforted and happy by the fact that you are always in my heart and here in spirit with all of us who love you. Your goodness, your generosity, your thoughtfulness, your strength and bravery in facing and conquering adversity in all our adventures and misadventures together, are the most precious memories that will be my compass as I continue on in Life until we get reunited.
Lord, please take care of my partner, love of my life John, welcome him into your eternal kingdom of peace and happiness, and sometime in accordance with your plan, may I be rejoined with my beloved Johnny in Your heavenly Kingdom. Amen
T
Thomas Gonda, MD posted a condolence
Friday, June 15, 2018
Thank you for the sorrowful message. John was a great man of humor, curiosity, life and vtality. I admired him greatly. Thomas Gonda, MD.
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Ana Mae Maravilla-Guillergan posted a condolence
Thursday, June 14, 2018
"No person is ever truly alone. Those who live no more, whom we loved, Echo still within our thoughts, Our words, Our hearts."
We miss you John here on earth. But we will be okay specially my sister Jo, your wife, for you are a victory in God's Kingdom. It's not a farewell..for we will see you again...in God's time.
Our sincere condolences to my dear sister Jo and the Maravilla family, and to the Gilbreath's - John's children and their families.
We LOVE YOU JOHN.
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Christine Christensen purchased flowers
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
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Willah Gorriceta lit a candle
Monday, June 11, 2018
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The family of John C. Gilbreath uploaded a photo
Monday, June 11, 2018
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Randal E Posey, M.D. purchased flowers
Sunday, June 10, 2018
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