Benjamin Joseph Gibson

Memorial services for Benjamin Joseph Gibson, 20, Lawrence, will be at 2 p.m. Friday at United Methodist Church in Phillipsburg. Burial will follow at Fairview Cemetery in Phillipsburg. Mr. Gibson died Thursday, April 12, 2007, in rural Douglas County.He was born May 28, 1986, in Hastings, Neb., the son of Chaplain Douglas Gibson and Lois Whitsitt Blakemore. He graduated from Hays High School in 2005.Mr. Gibson enjoyed music and art.Survivors include his father, Chaplain Douglas Gibson and wife Colleen, Fort Lewis, Wash.; his mother, Lois Blakemore and husband Rob, Grand Island, Neb.; a sister, Theisi Gibson, Lawrence; a brother, Dalton Blakemore, Grand Island; maternal grandparents, Virgil and Marilyn Whitsitt, Phillipsburg; paternal grandparents, Reta and Don Griffin, Norton; a great-grandmother, Gladys Pittman, Mississippi; several stepbrothers and sisters; and many extended family members and friends.He was preceded in death by his maternal grandmother, Jeanette Whitsitt, and his paternal grandfather, Joseph Gibson.The family suggests memorials to the Davidson Elementary School Art Department in North Kansas City, Mo., or Hays High School Music Department in Hays, sent in care of Warren-McElwain Mortuary.Online condolences may be sent at www.warrenmcelwain.com, subject: Gibson.