Obituary of Judith Gibbs

Passed away in Toronto, Ontario on Wednesday, April 6, 2011, at the age of 69, after a lifetime of service to infants and children. Dr. Gibbs was born the eldest child of three to George and Irma (nee Margot) Hartmaier in Long Island, New York, on June 15, 1941. She was followed by her sisters, Leslie and Abbie. Judith was an award-winning violinist as a child and later a published poet. Moving with her family to Oxford, Pennsylvania in 1954, she attended public school and was a merit scholarship finalist. She received a B.A. degree in biochemistry from the University of Delaware in 1963 and did research at the Sloan Kettering Institute in Manhattan. She received an M.A. in Russian Studies from Johns Hopkins University in 1968, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. In 1968, Dr. Gibbs emigrated to Canada, where she graduated with honours from the McGill University medical school in Montreal. She received advanced training in paediatrics and neonatology at McGill and was awarded an MRC research fellowship to Oxford University, in England. In 1978, Dr. Gibbs was appointed Assistant Professor of Paediatrics and Obstetrics at McGill University. Dr. Gibbs returned to the United States in 1980 to establish a neonatal intensive care unit at the Allentown Pennsylvania Hospital. She later established a similar unit in Camden, New Jersey. Dr. Gibbs returned to university and received a J.D. in Law from Villanova University in Pennsylvania in 1987. She was elected to the Law Review and Moot Court, and called to the bar in 1987. Dr. Gibbs then decided to return to her greater love, paediatric medicine. She practised paediatrics for several years in the Poconos in Pennsylvania. In 1990, she returned to Canada and joined the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Later she opened her private paediatric practice in Toronto. During this time she was also on call as a neonatologist at St. Michael's Hospital, saving many babies' lives. Until her death, she continued to do the work which was most meaningful to her, and to show her great and enduring love for infants, children and their families, and her dedication to their health and wellbeing. Her death from a stroke was unexpected. The family and friends of Dr. Gibbs express their deepest gratitude to the doctors, nurses and staff of St. Michael's Hospital, for the care and support they gave her during her final illness. She leaves behind her two sisters, Leslie Galambos (Pennsylvania), Abbie Hartmaier(Massachusetts), and Mary Barratt, her loving partner of many years. A private service was held on Wednesday, April 20, 2011 in the Humphrey Funeral Home - A.W. Miles Chapel in Toronto. If desired, donations in memory of Dr. Gibbs may be made to a charity of your choice.