Paul Gibbs, Jr., 75, passed away on Wednesday, February 2, 2022, at the State Veterans Home in Oxford. He was born September 23, 1946, to Paul and Martha Lewis Sheffield Gibbs, Sr. He was a graduate of Tupelo High School and Mississippi State University. Leaving graduate school at Mississippi State University, Paul joined the United States Marines Corps in 1969. He attended Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Virginia. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant and later assigned to D company, 1 ^st Battalion, 7 ^th Marine Regiment in the Republic of Vietnam. He assumed command of a reconnaissance platoon. Paul was awarded many awards, one being the Navy Cross for courage, heroic actions, and selfless devotion to duty while coming to the aid of a rifle platoon in the Que Son Mountains, Republic of Vietnam, on November 12-13, 1969. Wounded and unable to walk, Lt. Gibbs held his position under murderess fire for 14 hours until reaction forces arrived to relieve his platoon. He spent 18 months in military hospitals due to wounds he received in the firefight in the Que Son Mountains. Paul was a Methodist, an Eagle Scout and an avid golfer. He loved his many dogs.

Services with be at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, February 5, 2022, at the McNeece-Morris Funeral Home Chapel in Fulton with Rev. Phillip Box officiating. Mac Curlee will deliver the eulogy. Burial, with Full Military Honors, will follow at the Hillcrest Masonic Cemetery.

Survivors include two sisters, Mary Gibbs Koon (Nelson) of Fulton and Martha Lewis Gibbs Curlee (Mac) of Tupelo; five nieces and nephews, Elizabeth Curlee Russell, John Curlee IV (Jennie Bradford), David Pressler (Julie), Holly Gray (Jim), and Laura Richardson (Zac); several great nieces, nephews, and other family members.

He was preceded in death by his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. J.M. Gibbs, SR, and Mr. and Mrs. I.L. Sheffield; and his parents.

Visitation will be Friday, February 4, from 5:00-8:00 p.m. at McNeece-Morris Funeral Home in Fulton.