Frederick Gilbert

Frederick (Fred) Gilbert, 86, died January 7, 2012 in his home in Henderson, Nevada with his wife at his side. At his request, there will be no service. He was born February 24, 1925 in Reading, Pennsylvania. The ninth child of Mary Catherine and Ralph Gilbert, he transcended a difficult childhood to live a productive and full life. Mr. Gilbert served in the United States Naval Air Force during World War II. He was stationed at the Banana River NAS in Cocoa, Florida, and worked as an aircraft mechanic on a Martin PBM-5S2 "Mariner." He was honorably discharged in 1946 and went on to the University of Colorado to earn a B.A in economics. Later he earned two masters degrees, one from the University of Colorado and the other from Western Illinois University. In 1953 he married Genevieve Sapp. His career was spent teaching high school economics to snotty nosed ingrates in Westminster, Colorado until he retired in 1982. He was a natural teacher and enjoyed exploring ideas. He and his wife had three children who were very dear to him. Mr. Gilbert is survived by his wife, Genevieve Gilbert; his three children, Jeffrey Gilbert, Jennifer Gilbert and Jessica Gilbert; his four grandchildren, Cassandra and Cedric Sojka, and Read and Jae Masino; his daughter-in-law Chris Masino; and several nieces and nephews.