In Remembrance: Gordon K. Dibble ’45 Died on December 12 2017

Gordon Keith Dibble (TD ’45) died on December 12, 2017, at the age of 94.

Gordon grew up in Topeka, Kansas.  At Topeka High, he was captain of the track team and president of his senior class.  After Yale, he served with the 4th Division of the Marine Corps, and was wounded in the battle of Iwo Jima.  After a five-month recovery, he returned to the Midwest, to a career in retail.  His first job after the war was at Marshall Fields, where he sold socks to Clark Gable!  He was subsequently recalled to active duty during the Korean War.  

In 1952, he joined the CIA.  He served abroad in Taiwan, Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Laos, retiring in 1985.  He received the CIA Distinguished Intelligence Medal and the Intelligence Medal of Merit.  His wife of 57 years, Margot (Tufts ’50), predeceased him in 2015, and Dad is happy to at last be once again by her side.  He is survived by his sons, Gordon and Stephen; by his daughters Leslie, Robin, and Christine (CC ’82); and by several grandchildren.

Gordon was not much of a talker, but did have a dry, self-deprecating sense of humor.  He initially chose an old favorite of his, “When the Saints Go Marching In,” to be played at his memorial service, but upon thinking about it more, decided that he was no saint. So he settled on another Louis Armstrong melody that came to his mind: the 1931 recording “I'll Be Glad When You're Dead, You Rascal You.”

—Submitted by the family.