Marcia Gibbs

Marcia Guild Gibbs passed from this world on January 23, 2023 in Provo, Utah. She was born on September 10, 1942 in Braintree Massachusetts to Lawrence Winfield Guild and Rhea Coleman Guild and was the youngest of their three children. Her family moved to the idyllic rolling hills of Gilford, New Hampshire along Lake Winnipesaukee, where she was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

After graduating from Laconia High School as valedictorian, Marcia attended and graduated from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah majoring in English. There, she met her future husband (Richard W. Gibbs) and father of her eight children. She taught high school English in Orem, UT; was a substitute teacher for the Carlisle Area School District in Pennsylvania; and taught college courses at Shippensburg University and the University of Colorado. After raising her children, Marcia earned her Master’s Degree from Shippensburg University, where she worked for sixteen years as the editor of their scholarly journal, Proteus. She also served a mission for the LDS church as an addiction recovery volunteer in Orem, UT for two years.

Marcia loved gardening, nature, and animals. She enjoyed crossword puzzles, classical music, and architecture. As an avid reader, Marcia belonged to the Authors Club in Salt Lake City, UT and served as their president for a year. Marcia used her artistic creativity to sew costumes and clothing for her children, design elaborate flower gardens, and even helped design the homes they built. She played the French horn and piano. She instilled her love of music in her children by insisting that all of them learn to play at least one instrument.

She is survived by: her children, Chad (Patsy) of Provo, UT, Todd (Nancy) of Highlands Ranch, CO, Elizabeth of Cherry Hill, NJ, Melissa (Tim) of Carlisle, PA, Benjamin (Danielle) of Provo, UT, and Anne (Jeremiah) of Denver, CO; siblings Cynthia Kling of Starksboro, VT, and Lawrence (Sharon) Guild of Laconia, NH; and nieces and nephews. She was Grammy to twenty-four grandchildren and was Grammy-Great to eleven great-grandchildren, with two more on the way. She is preceded in death by her parents and two sons, Matthew and Gregory.