.jpg)
There were glowing tributes in Gibson’s honour offered by relatives, friends, co-workers, and the many whose lives he had touched in manifold and diverse ways. Among those paying tribute to the late Essequibian was Leader of A Partnership for National Unity, Brigadier (Ret’d) David Granger.
Courtney Gibson was born to Robert and Iris Gibson on July 17, 1952 at Adventure, Essequibo Coast, and died at age 60. He obtained his primary education at Onderneeming, on the Essequibo Coast, before moving on to the Anna Regina Government Secondary School, where he excelled in his academic performance.
A disciplined and well rounded personality, he was involved in debates; sporting activities, including cricket and track and field; and in table tennis. In his early working life, he entered into the field of Journalism and was employed as a reporter with the Guyana Chronicle newspaper, eventually rising to the level of General Manager of that company, at which he served with distinction.
He was also very involved in church activities, and as attested to by Pastor Alves, who was his ‘countryman’ at Essequibo, Gibson had a consistent relationship with God, and through the years had never lost touch with his Maker, despite the demands of his professional life.
Gibson, late husband of Juliet and father of three, was passionately eulogized as a wonderful son, father, brother and confidante, who lived an exemplary life. He was described as compassionate, one who always reached out to help others wherever he could. There was seldom a task too difficult for him; and he had had a way of purposefully and courageously rising to whatever challenges might have confronted him.
His daughter, Mrs. Coel Jones, who read the eulogy, expressed hope that such virtues would inspire others he had left behind.
In the 1970s, Courtney was amongst the first batch of students graduating from the University of Guyana with a Bachelors Degree in Mass Communication. He had demonstrated his mettle as a hardworking and determined student, and had won the award for best graduating student in English.
As a reporter covering political affairs, Courtney Gibson’s job took him to several countries of the world, including Korea, Zimbabwe, Russia, Iraq, Iran, Botswana, and various Caribbean countries. He had the privilege of meeting and interviewing political figures such as Yasser Arafat, Fidel Castro, Robert Mugabe, Kwame Nkrumah, Norman Manley and Sir Eric Williams. He also attended many international training programmes and conferences.
Moving up through the ranks, Gibson was eventually appointed Press Secretary at the Guyana High Commission in London. While there, he worked towards publishing his book, ‘A Nation in Waiting’, which centred on Zimbabwe’s fight for Independence and its first election in 1980.
After several years of working in London, Gibson opted to return to work in his native Guyana, and took up the challenge of assisting to set up the Guyana News Agency, where he functioned as General Manager and Editor. He later returned to the Guyana Chronicle and assumed the position of General Manager and Editor-in-Chief, doing the company proud through his diligent stewardship.
Other positions in which he functioned after leaving the Guyana Chronicle included as the Guyana-based correspondent for the Caribbean News Agency (CANA); Editor-in-Chief of the Turks and Caicos ‘Free Press’; public relations correspondent with the People’s National Congress (PNC); and Editor-in-Chief of the St. Maarten Daily Herald newspaper. In St. Maarten, he was also engaged in the fight to eradicate the scourge of trafficking in persons (TIP). He approached each of these positions with verve and the same professionalism, dynamism and integrity that characterized every task he undertook.
A dedicated member of the Anglican denomination, while in St. Maarten, Gibson remained active at the Saints Simone and Jude Anglican Church, where he served as the people’s warden. Indeed, as alluded to by his daughter Coel, and the Pastor of the St. Sidwell’s Church, Courtney Emmanuel Gibson had a consistent relationship with God, and never lost touch with Him.
