Jo Ann Gibbons Jones

GIBBONS JONES, JO ANN, 87, born April 25, 1933, to the late Jacob Eugene Gibbons and Elsie Davis Gibbons, in Louisville, Kentucky, died November 20, 2020 in Hendersonville, NC. She was a member of Fletcher SDA Church in Hendersonville, NC. She attended Pine Forest Academy in Chunky, Mississippi and then continued her education at Madison College, Madison, Tennessee where she achieved her Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing in 1957. Nursing was her passion. Her giving spirit along with her remarkable dedication propelled her to become an Assistant Director, Director of Nursing, and a licensed Nursing Home Administrator, as well as a state surveyor for long term care facilities and hospitals. On June 30, 1958, she married Haskell Jones and they had one daughter, Karla Marie. The family made their home in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1972 Jo Ann and Haskell accepted the call to serve as missionaries to Jamaica where Jo Ann was a nursing instructor at the University of the West Indies. Many amazing adventures were had and lifelong friends were made while there. Upon returning to the US, Jo Ann and Haskell settled in Hendersonville, NC and Jo Ann accepted the position of Assistant Director of Nursing/Inservice Director at Fletcher Hospital (AdventHealth). Over the course of the next several years she worked as Director of Nursing at St. Luke’s Hospital, Tryon, NC; Carolina Village, Hendersonville, NC; Administrator of Brentwood Hills, Asheville, NC and North Carolina State Surveyor. Jo Ann truly followed her giving heart throughout her career in Healthcare so that she could spread the love of Jesus wherever she went. She also gave much of her time and energy to financially help worthy students attend Fletcher Academy. She was an active member of the Fletcher Seventh-day Adventist Church. Her passion for life, dedication to her family and her unwavering faith in her Lord and Savior are just a few of the gifts she gave her family and countless others. Jo Ann is loved beyond measure and will be missed by so very many whose lives were touched just by knowing her. She truly was a bundle of sunshine. JoAnn was preceded in death by her parents, Jacob Eugene Gibbons (1987) and Elsie Davis Gibbons (1998); siblings, infant brother Charles Gibbons (1928); sister, Louise Christian (1983); brother, Lieutenant Colonel Jack Gibbons (2015); and Son-in-Law, George Zaborowski (2018). Survivors include her only daughter, Karla Zaborowski; two granddaughters, Emma Zaborowski and Kimberly Thompson Bucy (Matt); two great grandsons, Julian and Oliver Bucy; a sister, Elsie Worthen, (all the above live in Hendersonville, NC); and Sister-in-Law Nancy Gibbons of Keene, Texas; several nieces and nephews as well as too many friends to count.