Laurenda Gibson

Laurenda Gibson, 81, of Antwerp, passed away Thursday, March 21, 2024 at Parkview Regional Medical Center. 

Laurenda was born in Marion, Ohio on May 31, 1942, a daughter of the late Rozelda (Otto) & Luther Hunt. 

Laurenda loved family and time together with as many kids around as possible!  Children of any type made her happy as many of the people of Antwerp can attest by having her as someone who either babysat their kids or as being one of the kids that she babysat for!

She was an avid bowler at the Pin-A-Rama Lanes for many years and loved to have fun with her teammates at State tournaments.  Many summers were spent at campgrounds around the area where she and Roland would spend time fishing, riding around on the golf cart, playing bingo, and many evenings around the campfire.  Come wintertime though, you could always find them decorating for the Holidays with Mom telling Dad just where everything should go and putting out her extensive collection of Snowmen around the house.

For many years, her kitchen was a licensed bakery where she would bake everything from a simple sheet cake for a birthday or graduation, to an elaborate multi-tier wedding cake that would take hours to decorate.   I can tell you from many years of being the one who got to clean the beaters, those cakes were delicious!!

She and Roland were active members of the Antwerp Methodist Church for many years and you could find them there every Sunday when they weren’t out traveling the country when life permitted.  She was the perfect GPS before they were an actual thing.

She will be sadly missed by her husband, Roland, to whom she was married August 20, 1960; son, Randy (the late Shawn King) Gibson; siblings, Lesa (the late Terry) Sieger, Rebecca (Cory) Michaels & Melissa (Todd) Girardot; sisters in law, Clarehilda, Suzi, & Judy Hunt; and grandchildren, Alison (Joel) Weichart & Mitchell (Britney) Fowler.

She was preceded in death by her siblings, James, Martin, & Bill Hunt, Kathy (Jerry) Mauldin, Sandra (Bob) Sauder, Nancy (George) Ott-Burns and Peggy (Bob) Johnson.

Viewing will be Tuesday, March 26th from 4-7 PM at Dooley Funeral Home of Antwerp. 

Service will be Wednesday, March 27th, at 10:30 with viewing one hour prior at the funeral home. 

She will be laid to rest in Bethel Cemetery at a later date. 

Fond memories may be shared at dooleyfuneralhome.com.