James "Bob" Robert Gibbens

Bob was born February 8, 1938, in Kansas City, Missouri. He died June 5, 2022, in Sun City, Arizona where he has lived since July of 2010.

His early years were spent as an only child in KCMO before and during elementary school. His parents were divorced when his father died in 1948; his mother then remarried. In 1950, the family relocated to Phoenix due to his mother’s extreme COPD/asthma. His middle school and high school years were spent in Sunnyslope, AZ, where Bob excelled in sports, student government, and academics. He graduated as the Vice President of the Student Body and 2nd in his class, receiving a full scholarship to the University of Kansas as a Naval ROTC student. Bob wanted to be “Top Gun”, flying off carriers, long before they made the movie. It wasn’t meant to be, however, as his eyesight washed him out of the flight program.

So, after three semesters, he transferred to Arizona State University and finished his EE degree with honors. This resulted in a job/scholarship with Bell Telephone Laboratories in New Jersey, where he received a Master’s in EE from NYU and a CDT degree from BTL. This made him an expert on switching systems in telecommunications. From there he pursued a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania but, after completing all the classwork, he decided to terminate his education and concentrate on family and work. Bob and family moved to California in 1966 when on vacation, he got a job at Lynch Engineering in San Francisco. From there, he and 3 others started a company called Digital telephones Systems, (DTS) in Novato. It was then sold to Fairinon Corp and then to Harris Corp.

Bob worked for many other companies over the years that had him living in Virginia, Singapore and Red Bluff, Ca.

Bob is survived by his four Children: Dorothy Gibbens, Robert Gibbens, Bruce Gibbens and Timmons Gibbens. He also survived by 10 grand children in California and Idaho.

Bob moved from California to Sun City due to health issues. His allergies in California made it very difficult for him to breath. He also loved the Arizona weather 9 months of the year. He loved his church and loved volunteering there and the community he met. This became a big part of his life. He also loved to play golf with his friends and was a very good golfer to the day he died. Bob would send emails telling everyone he shot his age or under his age all the time.

It was very impressive and annoying. HAHA

Overall, Bob lived a very healthy and full life. He had many family and friends and was loved by them deeply. He is going to be missed and remembered.