Gilbert "Gib" Babcock, 100, of Ord formerly of North Loup passed away on Wednesday, January 1, 2014, at the Valley View Living Center in Ord.
Funeral Services will be at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 4, 2014, at the Ord Memorial Chapel. Pastor Greg Barnes will officiate. Burial will be in the Hillside Cemetery at North Loup. Ord Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.
Gib was born July 2, 1913, in Nortonville, Kansas, to Clarence and Martha (Jacky) Babcock, the second of ten children born to this union.
When Gib was 10, the family moved from Kansas to the North Loup Valley. He graduated from North Loup High School in 1931.
On March 16, 1935, Gib was united in marriage to Leone Stevens at Ord. The couple began farming in Greeley and Valley counties. Born to this union were two sons, Ronald and Loren, and a daughter, Barbara.
In 1954, they sold Lazy Lane Farm to own and operate the Western Auto Store in Ord for 1 1/2 years. Gib returned to farming in Minnesota and Nebraska.
In 1962, Gib accepted a job as groundskeeper at the University of Nebraska. In 1965, he was hired as Equipment Manager for the Huskers, a position that he held until retirement. Gib and Leone returned to North Loup in 1977.
Gib's years in North Loup were spent mowing lawns, chopping wood, gardening and fishing. In 2000, he moved into Grandview Assisted Living in Ord and spent his final years in Valley View Living Center. He enjoyed sharing stories and memories with friends and relatives.
Survivors include a son and daughter-in-law, Loren and Mary Babcock of North Platte; a daughter and son-in-law, Barbara and Galden Anderson of Gilbert, AZ; a daughter-in-law, Martha Williams of Washington, DC; grandchildren, Elizabeth Williams of Tacoma Park, MD, Brenda (Tom) Ott of Spring Grove, IL, Pamela (Mike) Waggener of Hoxie, KS, Douglas (Monica) Babcock of Lincoln, NE, Darci (Tim) Dietz of Pittsburgh, PA, Craig (Lisa) Anderson of Wexford, PA; and great-grandchildren, Nicole, Kayla and Michael Waggener, Trinity and Saylor Babcock, Timothy Eric and Steven Dietz.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Leone; a son, Ronald; nine siblings Chester, Merwin, Carroll, Iradell, and Donald Babcock, Marguerite Scott, Lillian Barber, Ida Babcock and Bonnie Keown-Severance; granddaughter, Jodi Lyn Anderson; and great granddaughter, Destiny.