Mary (Runyon) Gibbs

Mary Runyon Gibbs, 95, died of natural causes on Friday, March 8, 2024 in Dallas, Texas. She was born on October 22, 1928 in Carthage, Illinois, the daughter of Eve Runyon Graham and Dr. Royal Runyon. A graduate of Carthage High School and Knox College, she married fellow Knox College student Charles J. Gibbs in 1948 with whom she was married for 66 years until his death in 2014.
After graduation from Knox in 1951, Chuck and Mary settled in Galesburg where they were active members of the community for the next six decades. Mary was a loyal member of First Presbyterian Church and active in Pi Beta Phi, Sigma Alpha Iota, P.E.O. Chapter W, Mosaic Club and Soangetaha Country Club. There was always the music. Mary was quite literally a “born musician”. At the age of three she would hear a song sung by one of her mother’s voice students and repeat the melody perfectly on her little toy piano. As a teenager, she left Carthage for Galesburg to attend Knox College, thus beginning a lifelong intertwining of her music career with Knox and Galesburg. Mary was a pillar of the Galesburg music community, teaching private piano lessons until she was well into her eighties and introducing hundreds of her young students to the joys of music over the years. She was devoted to her students and generations of them maintained contact with her over the years. Many of them developed careers in music which she delighted in following. With her piano skills, she was a sought-after accompanist, including serving as the accompanist for the Galesburg Community Chorus for 48 years. While teaching at Knox College, she collaborated with Dr. Murray Baylor, her mentor and teacher during her years as a student. They performed a series of two-piano recitals beginning in 1965, first at Knox College and then at several other colleges in the Midwest Conference. Preceded in death by her parents, her brother and two sisters, a nephew and her husband Chuck, Mary is survived by her daughter Carolyn Gibbs Augustson of St. Paul, Minnesota; her son and daughter-in-law Chuck and Harriett Gibbs of Dallas, Texas; five grandsons: Adam and Lauren Augustson of Jersey City, N.J., Drs. David and Neli Augustson of St. Paul, Minnesota, Charles and Anastasia Gibbs of Chicago, Davis and Meredith Gibbs of Dallas and Bradford Gibbs of Dallas, along with eight great-grandchildren.
The family offers their deepest thanks to the staff of The Tradition Assisted Living Center in Dallas where Mary resided the last 3 years of her life for their devotion and compassionate care. Mary was a loving and devoted daughter, wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She loved nothing more than spending time surrounded by her family. Her grace, kindness and, of course, her musical gifts will be greatly missed.
There will be a memorial service in celebration of Mary’s life at 11:00 a.m. on April 27, 2024 at the First Presbyterian Church, 101 N. Prairie Street, Galesburg, Illinois with a reception following at the Church. The Galesburg Community Chorus will perform their annual Spring Concert, The Chuck and Mary Gibbs Memorial Concert that evening at 7:30 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, Galesburg, Il. In lieu of flowers, memorials in honor of Mary’s life can be made to the Galesburg Community Chorus.

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