Grace Eleanor Blackmarr G. Lebo

Grace E. Blackmarr G. Lebo, age 81, was called Home by God following a brief illness. She touched many through her love, caring and generosity and will be deeply missed by family and friends. Grace graduated from Gulfport High, attended college classes at Gulf Park College in Long Beach before marrying her high-school sweetheart in 1953 and giving birth to six children during the years the young family traveled with the U. S. Coast Guard – living in Florida, Alaska, California, Puerto Rico, and Massachusetts before coming back to the Gulf Coast to reside in Bay St. Louis where Grace, single again, met James L. Lebo of Slidell, LA, whose beloved wife, Joyce, had not long before succumbed to cancer. Jim was a mechanical engineer in the space industry, working with Martin-Marietta in New Orleans. Grace worked at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi where much of the purposes and labor were also centered around the space industry. She also spent many hours working with various women’s clubs, always on the Boards as president or VP, and often as the records keeper, wherever she lived. The latest two clubs she served in were the Newcomers Club of Gulfport and as VP for several years in the Gulf Coast Writers Club of Gulfport, MS. An active member of Bay St. Louis’s First Baptist Church, Grace transferred when the couple wed to Slidell, LA’s First Methodist Church where Jim was a member. In 1994 Jim told Grace he was “bringing her home” as he was sure she would appreciate living the rest of her life in Gulfport. The couple found a perfect home in the Northwood Hills area of Gulfport. Joining the Long Beach, MS Yacht Club, Grace soon became a Board member and the two worked with other members in re-establishing a Mardi Gras favorite – the Krewe of Bells and Buoys whose decorated float soon earned many trophies and recognition in Mardi Gras parades over the years. The Krewe placed many beautiful trophies in the Club’s glass cabinet, but Hurricane Katrina wiped out the cabinet and carried off the trophies. Preceding Grace in death were her beloved husband, James L. Lebo, her grandparents Mr. and Mrs. James Killegrew and Mr. and Mrs. Hamlin L. Blackmarr; her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Ransom Blackmarr, grandsons Matthew Michael Gibson and Carl Joseph Potts, great granddaughter Noel Carter, and her sisters-in-law Jacquelyn and Norma Lebo. Grace is survived by her children Burl E. Gibson, III (Annette), Randy A. Gibson (Deborah), Rosemary G. Gangemi (Carl), Grace E. Gibson (Anna), Sarah G. Elchos (Nicky), Frank I. Gibson (Renee’), and by Linda Lebo Blanchard (Gordon), Larry Leroy Lebo (Claudia), and Steven Troy Lebo (Lisa). She is also survived by 26 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren. A visitation for family and friends will be held Saturday, October 17, 2015, from 09:00 to 10:00 at Bradford O’Keefe Funeral Home, 15452 O’Neal Road, Gulfport, MS 39503. Visitation will be followed by a service at the funeral home and Christian burial at Evergreen Cemetery on 28th Street in Gulfport. Memorials may be made to Feed My Sheep, 2615 19th Street, Gulfport, MS 39501 or to Gulf Coast Rescue Mission, 2750 Mission Lane, Biloxi, MS 39535 where they will be put to good use for the homeless and the hungry and much appreciated. View and sign register book at www.bradfordokeefe.com