April 30, 1938 ~ July 12, 2003
Aquilla Gibbs Dibrell III
April 30, 1938-July 12, 2003
Aquilla Gibbs Dibrell III, of Long Beach, died suddenly in an accident on July 12, 2003. Born April 30, 1938 to A.G. and Martha Dibrell, he was a life long teacher of mathamatics, economics, and later middle school where he also taught English and social studies. Gibbs was a graduate of the United States Naval Academy with a Bacholor of Science in engineering and had a career in the U.S. Air Force. He had a Masters of Science in mathamatics and a Ph.D. in economics from Texas A&M. He was a life long practitioner and teacher of Judo, with a sandan rank. He was dedicated to the Catholic Church and a postulant of the Third Order of St. Francis. He was possessed of an extremely creative mind to the benifit of all his students, and will be missed by his family and community. He is survived by his wife, Lorraine Dibrell, his four daughters, Diane, Carrie, Marcelle and Renee, his brother Bill Dibrell, and his sister, Ann Petyak. Memorial services will be held Wednesday July 23 at 10 AM at St Simon and Jude Catholic Church located at 20444 Magnolia (at Indianapolis) in Huntington Beach. Interment will follow at the Holy Cross Cemetery in San Diego.
I will miss a caring friend. Love, Joyce
Gibbs was a very special friend to me. He often reminded me that I was responsible for getting him to start teaching Judo at his middle school. He spent a lot of his own money, often running up his credit cards to the max, to support the students in his program. So, I am not too sure I actually did him a favor! I know he derived great satisfaction involving his middle school students in the wonderful sport of Judo. I can only hope that his students will someday understand how special their sensei was and how lucky they were to have crossed paths with him. I will miss him. May his memory live on forever through his students and his fellow senseis.