Lucy H. Gibbs

Lucy Hodnette Gibbs, MD, passed away on Friday, May 10, 2013. Lucy was born on November 4, 1935 in Sharon, Pennsylvania to Dorothy and John K. Hodnette. She was raised in Sharon and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and graduated from Mt. Lebanon High school in 1953. She attended Auburn University where she received her degree in 1957. She graduated from the University of Virginia Medical School in 1961, where she ranked second in her medical school class.

Lucy and her then husband, William P. Gibbs, MD, moved to Lynchburg in 1965. Her entire 46-year medical career was spent serving the residents and families of the Central Virginia Training Center in Madison Heights, Virginia. She retired from the Training Center in 2012.

Lucy was an avid gardener. She waged a constant battle to keep deer out of her yard, eventually erecting an eight-foot fence to keep them away from her flowers, shrubs and tomatoes. She canned and saved much of what she grew, and made her own jelly. She enjoyed traveling, whether it be to a beach house at Nags Head, or on exotic trips around the world, and she liked to go skiing when she could. She loved to cook, and she helped to form a gourmet club with some friends in Lynchburg in the 1970’s. She traveled to New Orleans nearly every year, in part because of how much she enjoyed the restaurants there.

She danced as a child in Pennsylvania and continued taking ballet classes even into her 60s. Lucy enjoyed her time outdoors, hiking on the Blue Ridge Parkway or just sitting on her porch enjoying the animals and plants around her, often with a glass of bourbon in her hand. She never met a stray animal that she wouldn’t adopt.

Lucy is predeceased by her parents, her only sister, Hope Hodnette Weston and one daughter, Virginia Lee Gibbs. She is survived by her 4 children, John T. Gibbs and his wife Tonya, William R. Gibbs, and his wife Kally, Sarah C. Gibbs and her husband Philip Callicott, and Katherine G. McCombs and her husband Jason, and 7 grandchildren. Among many things, Lucy will be remembered for her incredible generosity to her children and grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations in Lucy’s name to: Dance Theatre of Lynchburg , Planned Parenthood of the Blue Ridge, the Mennonite Disaster Service or the Lynchburg Humane Society.

A memorial service celebrating Lucy’s life will be held at 2:00 p.m. Friday, May 17, 2013 at Whitten Park Avenue Chapel, 1336 Park Avenue, Lynchburg, VA, after which the family will receive friends until 3:30 p.m.