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Visitors driving through Hyde County would not expect to run off the two-lane roads that lead to Swan Quarter, Engelhard and Ocracoke. Hyde County residents, however, knew to expect it at least once and to keep a watchful eye on the road in case Douglas Gibbs was behind the wheel.  

For all 68 years of Gibbs’ life, Hyde County residents looked out for Gibbs. Not just on the road, but in everyday life. They would take him out to lunch, expect his presence at every local government meeting, worship with him at church and even give him the shoes off their feet when his childhood home burned and he lost everything.

“He could never have accomplished, I don’t think, the things he did, if the community hadn’t adopted him,” Michael, Gibbs’ younger brother shared. “I feel like the community loved him and adopted him as a son. They looked out for him, took him places to meetings and dinners and events. They didn’t exclude him in any way,” he said. 

“Somebody had to sacrifice to do that for him, because there were things he couldn’t do for himself in those settings,” he continued. “The community was instrumental as far as we’re concerned about him being able to do a lot of things he did.” 

Gibbs lived with cerebral palsy and defied many of the limitations placed on him by healthcare professionals when he was born. He graduated from Mattamuskeet High School in 1974, then from Beaufort County Community College in 1976 and from Mid-Atlantic Christian College in 1989. 

He would go on to become an assistant to the County Manager for the County of Hyde and a Hyde County correspondent for The Washington Daily News. Too, he became an ordained minister serving multiple churches throughout the county and was part of a prison ministry at Hyde County Correctional Institution. In addition, Gibbs was the recipient of NC Governor’s Distinguished Service Award.

“I’ve never met anybody as inspirational as Doug,” said Ashley “Brownie” Futrell, Jr., Publisher Emeriti of The Washington Daily News. 

“He put his heart and soul into his work with us,” Futrell, who hired Gibbs, said.  

When Gibbs worked for the Daily News, it published seven days a week and was the paper of record for Hyde County. Gibbs at times would contribute multiple articles per week and drove to the Washington office at least once a month, sometimes more. 

“Nobody would have begrudged Doug if he had spent his lifetime looking after his own needs, because he had significant needs, but instead he used his lifetime to care and minister to others,” Futrell said.  

At Gibbs’ funeral earlier this month, his younger brother Michael thanked Futrell for hiring Gibbs and allowing him to work for the Daily News. “I said, ‘Michael, you’ve got that just a little off. You’re saying this as if I gave Doug a gift, and the truth is Doug gave me and my family a gift by his dedication, his hard work.’” 

Gibbs was the oldest of five siblings – Vicki Gibbs, Michael Gibbs, Lori Gibbs Shadoan and Todd Gibbs. 

Michael continued to say that the things most important to Gibbs also defined his life – unconditional love for family and community and faith in Jesus. 

Gibbs’ faith was the cornerstone of his life, Michael said. Gibbs accepted salvation as a teenager, his siblings estimated.  

From that day forward, nothing in Gibbs’ life was possible without Jesus, Todd said. “There’s no explanation except Jesus. The life he had, how he lived that long and did all the things he did – if you don’t believe in Jesus, just watch Doug’s life. You can’t explain it any other way.” 

Vicki’s favorite memory of Gibbs is worshiping with him either at church or in the car. Neither could sing on tune and it was “hysterical,” she laughed. She would play old hymns that he loved and they would sing together. “In church I sat beside him some years that I went to church with him and we would still just sing.” 

In September of 2009, Gibbs authored a devotional book called, “A Few Minutes with God.” Within the pages is a collection of devotionals Gibbs wrote for the Daily News. It is available for purchase on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/FEW-MINUTES-GOD-Doug-Gibbs/dp/1615793038

A fourth word can be used to define Gibbs’ legacy and that is perseverance. Despite every challenge Gibbs faced whether it was a result of his condition or keeping a vehicle between the yellow and white lines on a two-lane road, Gibbs was determined to accomplish whatever he set his mind on. 

Shadoan said Gibbs “never let his disability hold him back.” 

“He gave over 100% all day long. Everything he had to do, he struggled – simple things that we take for granted…With a disability, some people would have said, ‘I give up,’ or ‘I can’t do this. I’m disabled.’ It pushed him and it caused him to do all of these amazing things, because he didn’t give up and was determined he was going to do it,” she said.