Edmund Graham Gibbons II (10 March 1920 – 18 June 2016) was a Bermudian businessman and politician who served as the mayor of

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

from 1972 to 1988. Gibbons was the brother of the late Sir David Gibbons, the former Premier of Bermuda from 1977 until 1982. Together, the Gibbons brothers owned and operated the Edmund Gibbons Ltd., a

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

, and its affiliated companies, for more than forty years.

Biography

Early life

Gibbons was born in 1920. His father, businessman Edmund Gibbons, had co-founded the family business, which he and his brother would later inherit. He had two siblings, David Gibbons and Patsy (née Gibbons) Phillips. Graham Gibbons served in the cipher office of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Gibbons, who was stationed for almost a year at Admiralty House in Bermuda, worked on breaking German codes during the war. He was also deployed to cipher offices in

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

and

British Ceylon British Ceylon (; ), officially British Settlements and Territories in the Island of Ceylon with its Dependencies from 1802 to 1833, then the Island of Ceylon and its Territories and Dependencies from 1833 to 1931 and finally the Island of Cey ...

. Gibbons married his wife, the former Ida Gibson, a painter and

watercolorist Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting metho ...

, in 1949. The couple had two children - daughter, Tracy Gibbons, and a son, Grant Gibbons, a politician and government minister. Graham and Ida Gibbons remained married until her death from cancer in 1988.

Business and political career

He returned to Bermuda following the war. In 1946, Gibbons joined his family's company, which had been co-founded by his father. Graham Gibbons oversaw the retail divisions of Edmund Gibbons Ltd., while his brother, David Gibbons, oversaw the company's other holdings, including Bermuda Motors and Colonial Insurance. He served as the President of Edmund Gibbons Ltd. until his retirement during the 1980s. Additionally, Gibbons headed the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce from 1950 to 1951. Graham Gibbons served as the mayor of Hamilton, Bermuda's capital city, from 1972 to 1988, an unusually long tenure for the mayor's office. He was awarded

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in 1985 during his time as mayor. Gibbons directed much of his family's philanthropic efforts to the Bermuda National Trust, which preserves the island's heritage. Graham Gibbons had originally inherited 19 acres of the family's sprawling property, known as Locust Hall and located in Devonshire Parish, while his sister, Patsy Phillips, who worked for the Bermuda National Trust, inherited six acres of Locust Hall. In a surprise charitable gift, Graham Gibbons donated the family's entire Locust Hall property to the Bermuda National Trust, with the stipulation that it remain intact as farmland and woodlands. Gibbons died on Saturday morning, 18 June 2016, at the age of 96. He was survived by his two children: Tracy and Grant Gibbons, the current Minister of Economic Development of Bermuda. Gibbon's funeral was held at the Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity in Hamilton. His wife, painter Ida Gibbons, died from cancer in 1988. His brother, former Premier David Gibbons, died in 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibbons, Graham 1920 births 2016 deaths Mayors of Hamilton, Bermuda 20th-century Bermudian businesspeople Bermudian philanthropists Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Royal Navy personnel of World War II People from Hamilton, Bermuda 20th-century philanthropists