Feb. 4, 1927 – Oct. 21, 2014
An art lover, devoted to family
Juhlann Davis Gibbs was a woman steeped in family history: her family had been residents of central Illinois for nearly 200 years. Yet as much as she appreciated where she came from, ultimately Juhlann’s greatest joy came in the legacy she left for the future: her three granddaughters.
Juhlann’s great-great grandfather, David Wooldridge, was Abraham Lincoln’s very first law client. Her great grandfather, Sam Watkins, was the owner of the legendary quarterhorse named Peter McCue, who rose to fame on the racing circuit during the early 1900s. (“Our most famous relative is a horse,” laughs Juhlann’s son, Jeffrey Gibbs.) And Juhlann’s grandfather, Charles Franklin Davis, remembered Abraham Lincoln coming to stay with his family in Naples, Illinois, when Lincoln rode the legal circuit.
When Juhlann was born on Feb. 4, 1927, to Charles Russell and Mildred Juhl Davis, she became the fifth generation of her family to live in central Illinois. When the Great Depression hit, Juhlann’s father moved their family to Long Island, New York. There she learned to swim in Long Island Sound and developed a love of the water that she would cherish all her life.
In 1939, her family moved back to Springfield. Juhlann graduated from Springfield High School in the class of 1945. She enrolled at Millikin University and joined the Delta Delta Delta sorority before deciding she would rather work than attend college.
Shortly after she returned to Springfield, her aunt and uncle invited her to a party. There she met W. Eugene Gibbs, who was recently back from World War II, where he had served in the Pacific in Army Air Force Intelligence decoding Japanese messages. Sparks flew between Juhlann and Eugene. They were married on April 12, 1948.
In due time, two boys came along – Jeffrey in 1951, and Keith in 1955. Both sons recall their mother’s love of the water, and have happy memories of long summer afternoons spent on their pontoon boat on Lake Springfield, as well as summer vacations spent at seaside locations.
Juhlann was artistic, a trait she had inherited from her parents, both of whom enjoyed painting. She shared her love of art with her sons. She took Keith to children’s art classes at the Springfield Art Association, and she painted Civil War battle scenes for Jeffrey, who loved history. She was, however, terrible at Pictionary, as her family fondly recalls. Unable to bear drawing a quick, sloppy sketch, she would run down the clock creating intricately detailed drawings.
Tragedy struck in 1972, when Gene Gibbs died very suddenly. Juhlann was left a widow at the young age of 45. Like many women of her generation, she had relied on her husband to manage most of their household affairs, and without him she was at a loss. She made it through this dark time by relying on her parents, her sons and her own inner strength.
Juhlann received a new lease on life in the 1980s when her three granddaughters were born. To Jeffrey’s daughters, Alexa and Marissa, she was known as “Tippy Ga.” “Ga” was the girls’ word for grandmother, and Tippy was the name of her cat, thus she was the grandmother who had Tippy the cat. To Keith’s daughter, Shawn, she was “Grandma boo-boo” because of the broken ankle she suffered when Shawn was a toddler.
Living in the same town as her sons, Juhlann was able to be an intimate part of her granddaughters’ lives as they grew up. Alexa recalled that she and her sister, Marissa, saw her grandmother every day during the summer, when she would ride her bike from her grandmother’s house to the Colony West Swim Club. Shawn remembered staying with her grandmother before and after school while her parents were at work.
As the girls grew older, Juhlann enjoyed taking them to the mall, painting nails together, watching TV and sharing celebrity gossip.
“I think my grandmother was a girly-girl at heart and, after raising two boys, she was happy to release her pent-up girl and indulge her granddaughters in their whims,” said Shawn.
Like their grandmother, Alexa and Marissa enjoyed art and took classes at the Springfield Art Association. They both participated in several of the Art Association’s annual Beaux Arts Balls, and Juhlann loved attending to support both the arts and her granddaughters. She was especially proud when Marissa was queen of the 2010 Beaux Arts Ball.
Juhlann also entertained them with stories of her youth, particularly of her time as a child in New York City. Alexa developed such a love for New York City after hearing her grandmother’s stories that her husband chose it as the location where he proposed. “I’ve always felt like our love for New York was a bond I shared with my grandmother,” Alexa said.
All three of Juhlann’s granddaughters remember her devotion to them, her sense of humor, and her delight in spending time with them.
“I think she gave each of us three girls something that makes us who we are today,” said Shawn.
Erika Holst is curator of collections at the Springfield Art Association.
