Richard J. Gibbs

Richard J. Gibbs, 88, of Dover, slept away peacefully Tuesday, Mar. 20, 2007.

Born Aug. 17, 1918, in Dover, Richard was a son of the late Walter E. and Ladema Freed Gibbs. He graduated from Dover High School and went on to earn his Bachelor�(TM)s Degree from Ohio University. He was a proud member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. Richard met his wife, the former Jane E. Dressel, at O.U., and the two were married on Aug. 8, 1941. He served honorably as a medical corpsman in the United States Army during the Second World War. Richard, along with his brother, Kenneth, was a co-owner of the former Dover Motor Car Co., a family business that started as a horse and carriage livery in the nineteenth century. Dover Motor Car sold the prestigious Packard automobile, along with Hudsons and later automobiles by American Motors.

Richard was a lifelong member of Grace Lutheran Church at Dover, where he served on Church Council and on various committees, along with being an usher. He was a member and Past Master of Tuscarawas Lodge 59 F.& A.M., and was a member of the Dover Kiwanis Club for over fifty years. A musician all of his life, playing the violin, Richard was one of the founding members of the Tuscarawas County Philharmonic. Additionally, he volunteered delivering Mobile Meals for many years, and was a faithful caregiver to his father, and later to his beloved wife, Jane.

Survivors include three daughters, Betsy (husband, Butch) Morris of Dover, Ladema (husband, John) Keitch of Westchester, PA, and Mary Margaret (husband, Steve) Mitchell of Bath; eight grandsons, James (wife, Lisa) Morris and Thomas (wife, Allison) Morris, both of Dover, Andrew Keitch, Richard (wife, Maureen) Keitch and Samuel Keitch, all of Philadelphia, PA, Edward Mitchell of Boston, MA, and Max and Jacob Mitchell, both of Bath; four great-grandsons, Maguire, Noah, Brody and Luke Morris; a brother, W. Kenneth (wife, Betty) Gibbs of Dover; several nieces and nephews.

Besides his parents, Richard was preceded in death by his wife, Jane, in 1999; a granddaughter, Ann Elizabeth Morris; and a sister Rose Marie Stoffer.

A funeral service will be held Friday, Mar. 23, at 11 a.m., in the Toland-Herzig Funeral Home & Crematory, Dover, with Pastors James R. Lewis and William C. Haggis officiating. Burial will be in Dover Burial Park. Family and friends are invited to call at the funeral home on Friday, 10- 11 a.m. To sign an online register and share a fond memory of Richard, please visit the Toland-Herzig Web site and click on “obituaries.”

Instead of flowers, the family suggests that donations in Richard�(TM)s memory be made to Grace Lutheran Church, 216 N. Wooster Ave., Dover, OH 44622; Dover Kiwanis, P.O. Box 1918, Dover, OH 44622; or Tuscarawas County Philharmonic, c/o Robert Henke, 180 Grandview Ave. N.W., Canton, OH 44708.

Toland-Herzig, Dover
330-343-6132
www.tolandherzig.com