Elizabeth Gibbens Obituary

Elizabeth 'Byrd' Gibbens, June 5, 1936 December 20, 2023. Byrd was preceded in death by her parents, Francis Louise Gibbens and Noyes Pendry Gibbens, and sister Cornelia Gibbens West. Byrd is survived by her sister Barbara Heinen and many devoted nieces and nephews most significantly, Jerry West. Byrd was born in Tyler, Tx and raised in Baton Rouge, LA. She had a lifelong love of words and language. Byrd was a consummate scholar. As a young Sister of St. Joseph, Byrd mindfully studied great thinkers and scholars exploring eternal questions of life, existence, belonging, notions of God and the limits of institutions. Byrd remained grateful for her years in the convent and would say it was a time of spiritual and philosophical exploration with dear and brilliant people. Byrd was a member of the Community of John in New Orleans where she found lasting friendships and support. After leaving the convent in 1977, Byrd went on to receive a PhD in literature and American Studies with an emphasis on folklore. She had an enduring love for the University of New Mexico and cherished her years at the University of New Orleans and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock where she team taught with her dear friend and colleague, Allen Ward. Among her published work was her book This Is A Strange Country: Letters From A Westering Family. At heart, Byrd was a gifted "see-er" of people and systems. Her gift to feel and see deeply afforded her a life of treasured friendships. She was beloved by her friends Vivien and Ed Michals (and all their beautiful children and grand children), Carol Bond-Barney, Anne and Walter Bailey Jr, Barbara Scott, Toni Bush, Bill Card, Josh Ward, Faye Breland and Dorothy Clark. But, quite possibly she was most cherished by her nephew, Jerry West. Her great niece and nephew, Ella and Emmitt Quin will miss her loving philosophical reflections on "bad words" (words are just sounds, after all) as well as her ability to intellectually engage their curious minds and to see them in their purest essence. And to darling Father Ken she would gracefully say "may the laws of karma find the dear father's crux". Like so much of her seminal work, Byrd will live on in her many emails pondering Lao Tzu, Jesus, Derida, Rothko, the many roles and expectations of women and the sanctuary of life she too built on the frontier in Belen, New Mexico. In spite of never having a child of her own, on this Mother's Day we honor a woman who nurtured many and birthed a lifetime of ideas. She was at heart a mother of seeking and soul. Byrd's wishes were any donations be given to Jerry West.