Gordon Elliott Tibbetts, 87, of Southport Island, Maine, a longtime lobsterman, passed away Oct. 17, 2019 after a brief complication with congestive heart failure.

Gordon was born Nov. 21, 1931 on Southport Island. He was the fifth child of a lobstering family, who truly enjoyed making his living from the sea and he spent 60+ years doing just that. When he could no longer go due to age, he never failed to say that he missed being on the water. He grew up on the Island and lived his whole life there.

Gordon (Donny to his siblings) attended school in the Boothbay region.

On Dec. 10,1955, Gordon married Beverly Snowman. Together they raised four children and enjoyed cheering them on in various sporting events. He always said they wore one car out taking all of the kids to practice. After the kids were on their own, they made several trips to Florida in the winter months.

Gordon enjoyed being on the water, whether it was hauling his lobster traps or taking his children, and later his grandchildren, mackerel fishing or to go check on the seals basking in the sun. He passed on his love of lobstering to his sons and to his grandsons. He also went stop-seining with his brothers every year in their boat, the Beatrice A. out of Christmas Cove. 

His knowledge of fishing around the Island, his love of boats and just being with family were the highlights of his life, along with eating clams, steamed or fried, Italian sandwiches and sardines and drinking his two favorite soft drinks – MUG Root Beer and Birch Beer! He loved watching the New England Patriots and the Red Sox play on TV and also enjoyed watching NASCAR races whenever possible.

Gordon loved his family, and always enjoyed visiting with them all and handing out advice, solicited or not!

He was drafted in the U.S. Army, did his basic training in Breckinridge, Kentucky, then served with the 24th Div., 8th Army in the Korean War Conflict. Among other duties, he was a guard in a POW camp. Gordon received several medals, which he was very proud of. To name a few were the Good Conduct Medal, the Korean Service Medal, and the United Nations Service Medal.

He was predeceased by his mother, Lelia (Parris) Tibbetts; his father, Walter (Rip) Tibbetts; father-in-law, Leland Snowman; mother-in-law, Lucy (Alley) Snowman; and brothers, Walter Jr., George, Edward, Albion, Arthur and James Tibbetts.

He is survived by his wife, Beverly; daughters, Mona (Ken) Faulter of Phippsburg and Brenda Tibbetts of Southport; sons, Timothy (Kathy) Tibbetts and Steven (Sonia) Tibbetts of Southport; grandchildren, Tyler Tibbetts of Newcastle, Dalton (Ashlea) Tibbetts of Southport, Nicole (and fiancé Myron) Tibbetts of Boothbay, Trevor Tibbetts of Southport, Trevor Swope (and fiancé Laura) of Southport and Shannon Swope of Edgecomb, Benjamin (Erin) Faulter of Bowdoin and Michael (and fiancé Nicole) Faulter of Huntington Station, New York; great-grandchildren Nicholas Timberlake of Spokane, Washington, Noelle Timberlake, Trey Tibbetts and their wonderful Mom, Sandy Timberlake also of Southport and Nolan Faulter of Bowdoin. He is also survived by his sister, Beatrice Hawke of Boothbay Harbor; Andy (Stephanie) Hawke of Boothbay Harbor, Dusty (Sherry) Tibbetts of Southport, Randy (Amy) Tibbetts of North Andover, Massachusetts, and Aaron Tibbetts of Bangor; nieces, Martha (David) Dickson; Bunny Blanchard of Southport, Lorna Tibbetts and Lynn Tibbetts of Brunswick.

In lieu of flowers, if you wish you may make a donation in Gordon’s name, please forward to the Southport Fire Department, 4 Richardson Road, Southport, ME 04576

A private family graveside service will be held on Nov. 10 at 1:30 p.m. at Spruce Lawn Cemetery, Southport.

Others who wish to join in a celebration of his life, can join the family at the Southport Town Hall for a bite to eat and reminiscing on Nov. 10 at 2 p.m.

We thank the staff at Togus Springs Palliative Care for their love, care and respect given to him during these last few weeks. We are very grateful.

Arrangements are entrusted to Direct Cremation of Maine in Belfast.