Marian Cowling Gibbs Obituary

Marian Jean Hough Cowling Gibbs, 81, died Tuesday Sept. 13. She was cared for by the Warwick Forest staff for the past year and before that by the staff of Cham­brel.
She was a native of Richmond, the daughter of Charles C. Hough and Pauline Ervin Hough.
She graduated from Richmond's Thomas Jefferson High School in 1947 and received a bachelor of arts degree in sociology from the College of William & Mary in 1951. While in college, she played tennis, was a member of the Pi Phi Sorority, enjoyed modeling and sang with several bands.
In Newport News she was a social worker with the Social Service Bureau and worked as a secretary with the Newport News Ship­yard and Weaver Brothers. Mrs. Gibbs also worked as a secretary at the Medical College of Virginia and the University of Pennsylvania, as well as in real estate in northern Virginia with Mount Vernon Realty. She and her first husband, Dr. Lawrence Cowling of Newport News, were instrumental in the founding and develop­ment of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church.
In 2002, she was preceded in death by her second husband, George M. Gibbs, a fellow W&M graduate to whom she was married for 30 years.
She is survived by her son, Gary Lawrence Cowling, an actor in New York City; her stepson, Randolph Morgan Gibbs of Dale City; a granddaughter, two grandsons, and nephews and nieces.
The family will receive friends noon-1:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17, at Nelsen Funeral Home, with interment in Williamsburg Memorial Park.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to W&M's McCormick-Nagelson Tennis Operating Fund, the Alzheimer's Association or the Heritage Humane Society. Online condolences at www.nelsencares.com or www.vagazette.com.