Dylan Christopher Gibbons

Dylan leaves to mourn his adoring wife Kristin, their 2 sons; Hayden (5 years old) and Kaleb (4 years old), his loving parents Dale and Carolyn Gibbons of Edmonton, AB, his 2 brothers Craig (Tiffany) and Tyler (Shandee) both of Edmonton, AB, his maternal grandmother Nora Eyben of Vermillion and paternal grandmother Vi Gibbons also of Vermilion, AB as well as numerous aunts, uncles, cousins and many dear friends. Dylan was predeceased by his maternal grandfather George Eyben and his paternal grandfather Glen Gibbon both of Vermillion, AB.

A Memorial Service to celebrate Dylan’s life will be held Saturday, March 19, 2016 at 2:00 PM at Memories Funeral Home with Yvonne Racine officiating. In lieu of flowers, Memorial Donations can be made to the Carolyn in Trust.Transit#0735- at any ATB financial Institution for Dylan’s 2 sons Hayden and Kaleb.

Expressions of sympathy may be forwarded by visiting www.memoriesfuneral.com

Eulogy Written by Larry Eyben

Good afternoon my name is Larry Eyben, Dylan’s uncle. On Sunday, March 13, all our lives changed forever with Dylan’s passing at a far too young 33 years. We lost a son, husband, father, brother, brother-in-law, nephew, and a friend to all.

Dylan leaves to mourn wife Kristen, sons Hayden, and Kaleb, parents Carolyn and Dale, brothers Craig and Tiffany, Tyler and Shandy, Gramma Gib and Gramma Nora.

Dylan grew up in Edmonton and attended Kennigiston, Roslyn and Queenie schools. He was an excellent student and all-around athlete. Played all the way through Midget minor hockey finishing with the Keytek Thunder.

Above all Dylan lived his two boys, they were everything to him. He spent every spare moment with them teaching them to fish, chop and gather firewood, hockey, quading and of course hunting the ever elusive Nacarat. Whats a Nacarat you ask? I asked the same thing to Hayden, he informed me it was a very big White Beaver with purple spots and a spiked tail.

Dylan loved the outdoors, loved Buck Lake where he spent a large part of his life with family and friends. Bigger was better was his motto when it came to campfires. It was Buck where he became a member of the biffy club as you will see in the video presentation.

To say he had an infectious smile was an understatement. Carolyn and Dale often woke up to Dylan’s shit eaten grin and a hairdo that resembled a chia pet, announcing bacon was on.

Some of my personal memories I have are while camping with Carolyn and Dale when Dylan was small and they had a tent trailer. All kids in bed, parents around a nice fire enjoying a cool beverage, a loud clunk then a thump followed by a screaming Dylan. Somehow he rolled out of the tent onto the propane bottles then onto the ground, a quick hug from mom and dad and all was well. Always was a tough little bugger. When the Gibbons and the Eybens got together on the farm chances are something was about to happen. In one day this Motley Crew pumped a 45 gal drum motor oil on the ground, trampled grammas corn, chased the chickens, and to top it off, have a car come into the yard to inform us of the boys hiding in the bush throwing rocks at cars on highway 41. Just a normal day at the Eyben Farm.

We all know Dylan lived life and never backed down from a fight. Well without giving too much detail, a family wedding turned a little western in the wee hours. Next morning, Dylan came out of his trailer with a huge grin and announced it wasn’t me.

Dylan worked as a pipe liner till his passing and loved his job and his pipeline brother. He was given the name Turbo by his coworkers. Dylan had some catch phrases he used a lot; You Betcha, Relax, and The Best.

Dylan has many friends; one of them being Mario, the two of them called themselves the Wolf Pack. The pack spent many hours watching Sons of Anarchy and Fast and Furious. Another buddy Darren said he had a heart of a lion and was a solid friend.

I have always tried to be close to my nephews and niece, some I didn’t get to spend the time I would have liked to because of where they lived, but I love them all the same and Dylan you my friend, are no exception. I have always had a soft spot in my heart for you now with your passing you have become a treasure. And will never be forgotten.

I know heaven won’t know what hit them, but you will be loved there as much as you are down here.

Rock On Buddy, Unc Loves ya

Tribute Written by Massimo Pazienza

Thank you to the Gibbons family for this incredible honour of saying a little something about Dylan as his last ever hockey coach.

I had the the privilege of coaching Dylan in his final year of organized hockey for the Northwest zone midget tier 1 team of 99-2000. It was one of the best seasons the Thunder ever had. It wasn't without some ups and downs but worth every minute of it.

Dylan had quit hockey the year before after having a rocky year at CAC. I had just coached a lot of his really good buddies for their first year of midgets in 1998-1999 and in That summer when seeing his dad Dale at The Lightfoots house. We spent a lot of time Talking over the odd glass of pop and Dale had wished Dylan would have continued playing hockey. We decided that I would try and convince Dylan to Play the game he loved one more time and for one more year with all his friends and end his playing career on a good note.

It took some convincing but Dylan decided to strap on the blades, put on the equipment and come tryout for me. During tryouts (Carolyn) had called me to let me know that Dylan caught one of the worst colds, ear and throat infections that anybody has ever had and likely wouldn't be at tryouts that night. But there was Dylan, low of energy and weak he didn't want to let me down by not showing up and gave it all he had.

He was rusty at first but it didn't take long to see how talented he was. Man he could play. I don't think he was more than 120lbs back then but when he got his stride going you could hear his blades cutting the ice. That Dylan wide-legged stride was amazing to watch. Dylan made the team and we had one of the best seasons of hockey together. Dylan's heart and effort led the teams charge moving forward that year.

The northwest zone hockey team was made up of former white mud West and Hawks players and at the midget level we joined them together to be one team. The white mud west hockey players found out very quickly how loyal of a friend Dylan was to his hawks buddies and if someone got out of line Dylan was there to put them back in. Also he was the little general on the ice protecting even his new friends and teammates during the games.

He was quietly the dressing room sheriff and him and I had many discussions to and from practices or games if I gave him a ride. There was a tournament early in the season that brought us closer together. I drove him and his life long friend Ryan out with me to a hockey tournament in Cochrane. While driving I was playing my music loud and Dylan couldn't believe that coach Mass was listening to Dr. Dre and Eminem two of his favourites back then and He loved it! he couldn't wait to get to the rink to share this story with all the boys. Thought I was the coolest coach. All of you know how Dylan he was pretty reserved about his feelings. But that weekend he opened up to me a lot. We had some great discussions, shared a lot of laughs and I think that was the day he knew he could trust me with anything I wasn't just his coach but I was like another brother to him. That was my favourite part of coaching these kids. I wore many different hats. Coach. Judge. Policeman. Counsellor. Brother. And sometimes part time dad. I wore all of them with pride.

Many of nights since then Dale and I have gotten back together, (of course after a few innocent pops) we would reminisce of the old days and that amazing team We had and with that his little pain brother TJ.

Dale you always thank me for giving Dylan that last year of hockey but it's you, and the rest of the Gibby family that I have to thank because I got to spend one of my best years not only in hockey as a coach but in my life bonding with your kid and his friends...... watching him play the game he loved so much was a pleasure to me.

After cleaning up that year winning minor hockey week, Cities and then provincials! We had The perfect season. The triple crown and it was awesome.

I remember this perfectly. Dylan sat in the dressing room after our last year end tournament And he was looking around the room at his old and new buddies smiling and laughing. Actually he had a bunch of beers in his bag that he handed out to all his teammates and he stood up, walked over to me and gave me a beer and the biggest hug while lifting me up and he said "thanks coach for convincing me to play again and for giving me the best year of my life! I'll never forget this. And I'm finally hanging up the skates as a champion!!"

As I hugged him back I said "no Dylan, thank you for giving me the best year of my life to date and my coaching career"

You were taken from us way too young. I feel like you had way more hockey to play. Rest in peace my friend. Until that one day I can be your coach up in heaven and watch you play the game you love with all your buddies again.

I love you Gibby and thank you for playing that one last year for me!!! Thank you for showing me that hockey was more than a game. You'll be missed my friend. You'll be missed.

Thank you all and again all of you for letting me share this with all of you.

Tribute by Brent Zelionka

Dylan was a man of integrity, a man full of laughter and life. He was always putting a smile on someone's face. He would find a way to make the best out of any situation. A man with a heart of gold and would doing anything he could for a fellow friend, family member, especially for Kristen and his two little boys Kaleb and Hayden. I had the pleasure of knowing Dylan for 16 years he was as solid of a friend as I could ever ask for, and I am sure everyone in this room would agree. He loved to pipeline he never had an off switch it was go go go. Dylan could dance better in my passenger seat at the of the day than I ever could on the dance floor. His Chinese impersonations and Ninja Turtle quotes were over the top making people laugh all the time. I was just in camp with him and there was endless amounts of great foods and boy oh boy could that little man eat, then a plate of nachos and cheese to take back to the room for desert. Dylan was a gem and will be missed by all but never will he be forgotten.

Dylan Gibbons AKA Turbo

I love you brother and I am truly sorry life ended way to soon for you.

Rest easy brother

This is from your Brother Ray.

My brother Dylan I’m going to miss ya,

Never going to forget all the peaceful times we had out at the lake, listening to Beats in the backyard by the fire having a smoke where we let our minds go.

We had some good adventures in our travels.

The good things about having you as a friend is knowing that no matter what we decided to do it was going to be fun, weather it was chopping wood in the backyard or taking a gander on rat lake with the kids for a little picnic eating chips and dip off the back of the quad having a couple of pops.

I’m going to miss that look on your face wondering if I was going to be alright, like the time you thought it was a good idea if I tired wake boarding, I almost drown because I didn’t understand how to get in the water with a wake board and every time I would try to pull my feet up I would just go under but you were right there ready to jump in after me, even though I would of probably just brought both of us down, you always had my back no matter what the circumference.

I loved to see you laugh, even if it was at me, like the time you and TJ left me in the middle of the lake or when Moma Gibbs wanted me to dance and you knew there was no saying no, I was dancing.

Or the time when I was watching you make wings and you had this little chuckle. You asked me if everything is ok, even though you knew I just wanted to see what you put in your wings, you would make them as hot as you could, because that’s the way you like them, and I always thought you did that so I wouldn’t eat them all.

Love you my brother.

Rest in peace.