02/16/2025
We lost a good man….RIP Bob Gipson
As the Greater Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament prepares for it’s 45th year in existence, one man has been here, behind the scenes, since day one. And that man was Bob Gipson.
Many of our early experiences with the GJKT, as fishermen, always found us passing the old Purple Lady, as she bobbed in the mouth of the St Johns River….and at the helm was Bob Gipson, usually accompanied by his wife, and as he put it, the best first mate he could ask for, Marion…keeping watch over the fleet….sure to correct any wayward mariners, who might shortcut the line.
But think about it….over 40 years volunteering to do something is a long, long, time. And I think that a lifetime of service is something that should be recognized. Because most of you over the years have had some sort of dealing with Mr Gipson, whether it be good bad or indifferent, it didn’t matter, but one thing is for sure…. when you walked away, you knew where you stood with him. A good attribute, indeed.
I have often said, that I sure hope someone is taking notes, because it seemed to me that Bob knew and or knows just about everybody. And in some way shape or form has had dealings with lots of movers and shakers in and around Jacksonville, as far as the GJKT is concerned. And if you listen really well, he would be high on his perch at the weigh in, remembering and sharing old stories from year’s past. He loves to share them to anyone with a willing ear.
One of Bob’s prouder achievements was helping create the junior angler tournament. The board at that time did not want him to try it, they said it wouldn’t fly, but he said “just give me the chance to fail” ….so reluctantly, they let him institute the junior angler tournament, as a stand-alone event with its own day!! The year was 1993. The reason he pushed for a stand-alone event was that the prior 2 years the kids tournament was held during the regular kingfish tournament fishing days….and the dads were out fishing to win, and the poor kids were getting sick as dogs, because nobody was bringing in any sick kids, in fear of getting DQ’d. So, Bob Gipson and Pete Loftin, along with maybe another one or two guys were using their own boats and going out and “rescuing” sick kids from dad’s boat and taking them back to momma or grandma on dry land….could you imagine that today ? The stand-alone event allowed the GJKT to have control of the day, and if it was too rough to fish, we had the right to not go, or call it short…. That was the year Wendy’s, with Dave Thomas came aboard and was the Junior angler sponsor for 3 years. The junior angler tournament is still one of the shining moments of the GJKT each year….and I’m sure some of our fishermen and women today, have had a junior angler moment!! I know I have with my two kids!!
Bob was employed by Western Electric / AT&T for 45 years, and during that time traveled the southeast states extensively. Usually for long periods of time he would be on the road. Back then, there was no internet or cell phones, matter of fact he was out there helping states and municipalities get their long-distance phone lines up and operating, once up and going he’d be off to the next place, and so it went. When ATT / Southern Bell made Jacksonville their headquarters, he eventually made Jacksonville his home. It is here in Jacksonville that he got into boating, and in doing so made a lifelong friend in Pete Loftin.
I asked Bob, how did a telephone guy get interested in a kingfish tournament? He said one day Pete Loftin asked him to bring his boat (they were in the Captain’s Club) to help in this kingfish tournament he and some others were putting together, so he said sure and hopped right in…. the rest is history.
Over the years Bob worked tirelessly in the day to day developments of the GJKT, and has served at every capacity. And as a testament of some of his stories, bore witness to many events. He told me how the old barge was used at the Atlantic Blvd site, where the GJKT was held for some years, and they had to half sink the barge, by filling with water, so that the average boat could pull up and unload their fish. Well one day they were conducting the weigh in and a bad storm came up, and in the storm he called out for everybody to abandon the barge, Bob and a couple others were the last ones exiting the barge when it was struck by lightning, it actually had hit a tall mast on a nearby sailboat and jumped to the barge…they were on the ramp leading up from the barge, and the lightning popped Bob, and another guy, who was sent to the hospital….”put a real scare in all of us that day, he said”. Then he added, “I got the feeling back in my arm 2 or 3 weeks later.”
He also told me about the time that we booked Charlie Daniels Band, of course that was a big time back then, and the tournament was over-run by people that we were woefully understaffed for. And kicker was that nobody bought any beer or drinks from us, they all showed up with coolers full of beer and tailgated all night long.
I have mentioned before, but it bears repeating…. for many of the 40+ years Bob Gipson has devoted to the GJKT, his wife Marion was always by his side. She was his “best mate, his first mate, and his soul mate”. He told me about the time a long time back in the early years of the tournament. They were out at the mouth of the river, on the Purple Lady, and a call came in that there was a boat dead in the water, some 28 miles southeast of the inlet. And to top it off, there was a bad storm which had cut visibility down to the bare minimum. It was a time of the early Loran. And the old mariners used time distance to get from place to place. So, at 5:30pm Bob pointed the Purple Lady south east and accompanied by his wife, headed towards the broken-down boaters in five foot seas.!! Some time later he looked at his watch and hollered down to his wife who was down below holding on to the ladder, to be on the lookout because he figured they should be near. And a few minutes later they found the boaters. They were in a 36-foot cabin cruiser, and Bob’s 32 foot boat hooked ‘em up and readied them for a tow back home. He said that the good Lord must’ve been looking out for them, because as soon as they hooked up the tow bridle, the ocean slicked off, and the skies cleared, and it was a nice tow back to home port. He said they broke through the jetties at 11:30pm, and still towed the boaters all the way to Atlantic Blvd.!! …They were back on post at 6:30 the next morning.
Needless to say, Bob Gipson was a mainstay at the GJKT base. He devoted a lifetime to something that was his “labor of love.”
Bob passed away this weekend surrounded by family, I’m sure he’s catching up on missed time with his Marion, with no more sickness and no more pain.
He will definitely be missed, but his legacy will live on through the GJKT. As was said on another post….simply, He made a difference !
Captain Steve Thompson
On behalf of the entire GJKT family
You will be missed
