Opal Ruth Gibson was born in Oriole, Indiana, and moved with her family to Keensburg, Illinois, during her childhood. They later lived in Mt. Carmel, Illinois. Opal attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, where she qualified to be a teacher and began teaching second graders. At the University of Illinois she earned a Bachelor of Science degree. She went on to complete her graduate work in bacteriology at Ohio State University, earning a master’s degree.
While at Ohio State, Opal was recruited by Merck Sharp & Dohme, a pharmaceutical company in Philadelphia, where she managed a laboratory focused on producing influenza vaccines.
In Philadelphia, she and her partner, Edward R. Hamm, built a life rich in music and art for their family. Opal was passionate about antiques and was a member of the Philadelphia Questers. Summers were spent in Barnegat Light, New Jersey, where her children studied guitar and ceramics at the Long Beach Foundation of the Arts and Sciences. The couple collected antiques and introduced their family to fine art, good food, and historic places and antiquities. Opal restored the Victorian Gardens surrounding their Italianate Victorian home in Centre Square, Pennsylvania, and continued teaching microbiology at the University of Pennsylvania during this time.
After marriage and raising her children, Opal relocated to Clearwater, Florida. There, she again taught bacteriology at the University of South Florida in Tampa. Later, she shifted her focus back to childhood education and earned certification to teach children with learning disabilities. She served as co-director of a private school in Atlanta, Georgia, and later at Gables Academy in Miami, Florida, which specialized in teaching students with learning disabilities. Throughout her career, she established a strong reputation in this field and opened two tutoring schools in the Tampa Bay area.
Opal eventually returned to Clearwater and then moved to Dunedin, where she discovered a passion for watercolor painting. Her love for gardening was evident in her many floral paintings. She actively participated in local artist groups and organizations that supported the arts, as well as a group dedicated to literacy.
Opal is survived by her children: Edward Gibson Hamm, Deborah Elizabeth Hamm, and Timothy Charles Hamm, as well as her grandsons, Zachary Stephen Hamm and Gregory Aaron Hamm. She was predeceased by her parents, Justus Adams and Ruby Yvette (Jenkins) Gibson, and her siblings: Freal Justus Gibson, Paul Jenkins Gibson, Wilfred Leroy Gibson, Ralph Duane Gibson, and Norma Jean Grossoehme.
Her cremains will be interred at Sylvan Abbey Memorial Park in Clearwater, Florida. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Literacy Council of Upper Pinellas (LCUP).**Obituary: Opal Gibson Hamm**
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