TIFTON — Otis Turner Gibson, 88, of Tifton died Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013 at Smith Northview Hospital in Valdosta. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Ridge Avenue Church of Christ in Tifton with Mr. Harold Chambers and Mr. David Tanner officiating. Burial will follow at Oakridge Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 5 to 7 tonight at Albritton-Beaumont Funeral Directors.

Lance White, Travis Lewis, David Lewis, Kevin Pittman, Quin Godwin, Johnny Orr, Brian Orr and John Gibson will serve as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers will be the men of the Ridge Avenue Church of Christ.

Born Sept. 5, 1924 in Memphis, Tenn. to the late Terry Friend Gibson and Allie Marie Turner Gibson, Mr. Gibson was also preceded in death by a son, John Terry Gibson and a brother, Ted Gibson.

Mr. Gibson served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II in the Southwest Pacific from Oct. 1943-Jan. 1945. He participated in the Defense of Piva Yoke and the Consolidation of the Northern Solomon Islands. He moved to Tifton in 1959 to build and manage the International Harvester dealership and later retired as the vice president of Southern Turf Nursery.

He loved to fish and hunt, but his work was his hobby. He helped Coach Brodie build the Tift County Blue Devil football field, and he also built the athletic fields at the University of Georgia, the University of Alabama and the University of Florida, as well as Turner Field, Fulton County Stadium and many others. He was a member of the Ridge Avenue Church of Christ in Tifton and was a former member of the Tifton Rotary Club.

Mr. Gibson is survived by his wife of 68 years, Grace Marie Higgins Gibson of Tifton; a son and daughter-in-law, Steve and Derry Gibson of Tifton; two daughters and two sons-in-law, Marsha and John Orr of Cumming and Susan and Danny Brock of Valdosta; eight grandchildren, John Gibson, Allison White, Brian Orr, Johnny Orr, Jacey Pittman, Camille Lewis, Alaina Lewis and Susanna Godwin; and 14 great-grandchildren.

Flowers will be accepted or donations may be made to Raintree Village Children’s Home, 3757 Johnston Road, Valdosta, Ga. 31601 or Georgia Christian School, 4359 Dasher Road, Valdosta, Ga. 31601.

You may sign the guest registry at www.albritton-beaumontfuneralhome.com.

Albritton-Beaumont Funeral Directors is in charge of arrangements.