Joye Freeland Gilbreath's Obituary
Joye Freeland Gilbreath, of Vincentown, NJ, passed away peacefully on January 11, 2018 at the age of 95. He was born in Franklin County, Arkansas. Joye was the beloved husband of the late Patricia A. (Adkins), and loving father of Christine Diane Borget (wife of the late Arthur), Michael J. (wife Nicole), and the late Linda Susan. He was the dear grandfather (Gramps) to Jennifer Marie Hall (husband John), and great-grandfather (Great Gramps) to Daniel M. Hall. Joye was the uncle, great-uncle, great-great uncle, and great-great-great uncle to nieces and nephews throughout the country.
Joye was born in the bottomland of the Arkansas River in the Ozarks to a miner’s family. He was the 2nd youngest and last surviving of 12 siblings born to Pawley and Minerva Gilbreath.
As a young adult he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps. In 1942 he entered the Navy and trained as an electrician before being stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and worked to outfit submarines. He also worked refitting batteries on ships that had been exposed to radioactivity during the atomic bomb testing at the Bikini Atoll. He left the Navy and enlisted in the Coast Guard retiring in 1963 as a Master Chief. Subsequent to his retirement from the Coast Guard, Joye worked in Thule, Greenland for RCA and the Philadelphia Navy Yard until retiring in 1985. In his later years, he enjoyed traveling to Navy and Coast Guard ship reunions, visiting relatives in Arkansas and Maryland, and taking periodic trips to Atlantic City casinos.
Relatives and friends are invited to attend Joye’s life celebration at Givnish of Maple Shade, 600 E. Main St., on Saturday January 27, from 1 – 3 pm. Military honors will be presented. Interment is private. In lieu of flowers, donations in Joye’s memory may be made to Samaritan Healthcare and Hospice, 5 Eves Dr. Suite 300, Marlton, NJ, 08053 (www.SamaritanNJ.org/giving/memorial-gifts), The National MS Society (www.NationalMSSociety.org), or to the Alice Paul Institute, P.O. Box 1376, Mount Laurel, NJ 08054 (www.AlicePaul.org). To share your condolences and fondest memories, please visit www.Givnish.com.
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