Sally Gibbs
It is with deep sadness that the family of Sally Gibbs Wade announce her passing September 15, 2018 at her home in Ft. Myers, Florida. She was a 1961 graduate of Rogers City High School and continued her education at Madonna University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing and her registered nursing licensing.
She left nursing to satisfy her entrepreneurial desires by starting businesses, developing them and eventually selling them. She retired in 1985 at the age of 42, bought a backpack and a “around the world” airline ticket and began her journey to explore the world. She spent the next 33 years traveling solo and exploring all seven continents and 135 countries. In between her travels she volunteered her nursing skills with VOSH (Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity) at eye clinics in India and Guatemala.
She was a member of the Medical Reserve Corp and worked with Hurricane Katrina victims. As a member of the American Red Cross she was deployed to assist survivors of flood, fires and tornados in the U.S. Her last involvement was at the age of 69, when on her own bought a tent and sleeping bag and flew to Haiti to assist earthquake victims.
She is survived by a daughter, Robin Wade McSheehy of Ft. Myers; a grandson, Timothy McSheehy, U.S. Air Force; a great-granddaughter, Arianna McSheehy of Alexandria, Virginia; and a sister, Sandra Morrison Ryan of Hermitage, Pennslvania.
She is preceded in death by her parents, Howard and Peggy Gibbs of Rogers City; and a sister, Sharon Gibbs Brackenbury of Alpena.
A Celebration of life service will be held in Ft. Myers. As per her wishes her ashes will be scattered on four points on the earth to correspond with the four cardinal directions of the globe. The family requests no flowers, but welcomes donations to the Hospice House Foundation of WNC, P.O. Box 815, Franklin, NC 28744.