{"id":6010,"date":"2026-08-01T12:10:29","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T12:10:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6010"},"modified":"2026-08-01T12:10:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T12:10:29","slug":"beloved-rosie-jeanne-gibson-dies-at-100","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6010","title":{"rendered":"Beloved ‘Rosie’ Jeanne Gibson dies at 100"},"content":{"rendered":"

PINOLE \u2014 World War II \u201cRosie\u201d Jeanne Gibson, a National Parks ambassador who spent her final years in the Bay Area highlighting the contributions of women during wartime and encouraging little girls to fight for what they deserve, died Wednesday. She was 100.<\/p>

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The Pinole resident, who welded war ships as a teenager and detailed her story nearly every Friday for the past few years at the Rosie the Riveter World War II Homefront National Historical Park in Richmond, died of congenital heart failure while surrounded by loved ones.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne less welding torch shines today,\u201d said National Parks volunteer Tammy Brumley, affectionately known as the Rosie Wrangler. \u201cHer indomitable spirit was only bested by her failing health.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gibson was born Feb. 22, 1926, in Grand Folks, North Dakota, but was raised in Minnesota. Though still in high school at the time, the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, motivated Gibson to support the war effort. She initially pursued nursing but quickly realized her mistake and sought to find a different way forward, a decision her future patients would appreciate, Gibson often joked.<\/p>\n

After her father denied lending Gibson the money needed to pay back the government for dropping out of her nursing courses, she borrowed the cash from someone else and at just 18 years old, she and Esther Harri, a close friend she met in college, moved to Seattle.<\/p>\n

They found space in a home to rent and landed roles as welders at the Todd Pacific Shipyards, working the cold evening shift in their safety helmets, leather overalls, jeans and long underwear purchased with their first checks.<\/p>\n

After about a year, Gibson followed Harri to Juneau, Alaska. While there, she took on another role making manifests and hatch lists for the Army Transportation Corps\u2019 Embarkation Center, where she worked until the end of the war in 1945.<\/p>\n

Millions of women like Gibson who worked in American shipyards and factories during World War II \u2014 many of them stepping into the industrial workforce for the first time while the men who had formerly worked such jobs were deployed overseas \u2014 became known as \u201cRosie the Riveters,\u201d after the 1942 hit song of the same name.<\/p>

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\u201cWithout World War II and what happened, I would be an entirely different person,\u201d Gibson previously told this publication. \u201cIt gave me some backbone.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the end of the war, Gibson and Harri returned to Minnesota but found themselves drawn back to the Pacific Coast. They moved to the Bay Area in 1946, crossing the Bay Bridge for the first time on July 22, Harri\u2019s birthday.<\/p>\n

Gibson has success finding office jobs but also held no qualms about quitting them when she felt disrespected. In one instance, she submitted her resignation after learning that a male clerk earned more than her simply because he was a man. On another occasion, Gibson quit after being told she\u2019d worked her way up as far as she could go in the company because she was a woman who was likely to marry, have children and leave.<\/p>

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\u201cI say don\u2019t limit yourself to what you think you can do,\u201d Gibson previously said, sharing a key message of hers targeted toward girls and young women. \u201cYou can do it and don\u2019t let them pay you less.\u201d<\/p>

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Gibson never did marry or have children of her own.<\/p>\n

Instead, she went on to earn a bachelor\u2019s degree, master\u2019s and Ph.D. in educational psychology from UC Berkeley, where she also taught multiple sections of educational psychology 101. While writing her dissertation, she also taught science to local schoolchildren. She dedicated 30 years of her life to teaching kindergarten through sixth grade, and assisted in developing science curriculum.<\/p>\n

Outside of work, she and Harri earned their pilot licenses at the age of 40. They joined a local chapter of the Ninety-Nines, a group for women pilots started by famed flyer Amelia Earhart and 98 others, and traveled the world, socializing with an assortment of friends.<\/p>\n

\u201cJeanne\u2019s life embodied courage, determination, and the belief that ordinary people can accomplish extraordinary things. She helped win a world war, challenged inequality, shaped countless students, and ensured that the legacy of the World War II home front would never be forgotten,\u201d the Rosie the Riveter Trust said in a statement. \u201cWe are profoundly grateful for the time we shared with Jeanne and for the gift of her voice. Her stories, her laughter, and her steadfast spirit will remain woven into the fabric of this park and this community forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until Gibson and Harri, with whom Gibson lived for decades, moved into a senior living community in Pinole that Gibson learned about the work of the Rosie the Riveter World War II Homefront National Historical Park and the other Rosies telling their stories.<\/p>\n

Inspired, Gibson began telling her own story at the park\u2019s Visitor Center every Friday after attending a trip to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii in December 2023, a trip she repeated the following years.<\/p>\n

She was also awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor and was among 70 American World War II heroes honored in France on the 80th anniversary of D-Day in 2024. A banner recognizing Gibson and her lifelong dedication to advancing opportunities for women was recently hung alongside others outside the visitor center.<\/p>\n

One dedicated to Harri is expected to be added to the dedication wall soon, according to Rosie the Riveter Trust spokesperson Pam Kruse-Buckingham, who said Gibson\u2019s tenacity helped her see her own value.<\/p>\n

Throughout the end of her life, Gibson lived vibrantly and \u201cwent down kicking,\u201d Brumley said while detailing Gibson\u2019s life during a July 31 Rosie presentation Friday. A lover of sports, Gibson demanded that she be allowed to attend a San Jose Earthquakes game where she was being honored.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe always told me she wanted to die with her boots on,\u201d Brumley said. \u201cIn this case, that was her red and white polka dot sneakers.\u201d<\/p>

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