This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Harry Leon Gibbons, a medical doctor who was Salt Lake County's health director for more than two decades, died Tuesday at age 85. Gibbons, a Kanab native, was born May 30, 1930. He attended Logan High School and graduated from Utah State University, then earned a medical degree from the University of Utah and a master's degree in public health from Harvard University.
He became board certified in preventive medicine and studied aerospace medicine. He served the Federal Aviation Administration in Oklahoma, first as a regional flight surgeon and later as a chief of aeromedical research, according to his obituary. One of his most cherished achievements was helping develop air-ambulance regulations.
Gibbons returned to Utah in 1971 to become executive medical director of the Salt Lake City-County Health Department (now called the Salt Lake County Health Department), a position he held for 22 years.
John Inch Morgan, who worked with Gibbons at the health department, described him as "one of my most valued mentors" and a caring man. He said the doctor was instrumental in merging the city and county health departments and was dedicated to providing health services to all people.
Gibbons was known for his sense of humor, Morgan added.
"He was the very best at telling jokes," Morgan said. "He had the capacity to put people at ease. He always started with a joke."
Cindy Gust-Jenson, a former Salt Lake City-County Board of Health member, said Gibbons was passionate about immunization and disease prevention.
"The first time I saw Dr. Gibbons, he was in costume in a gymnasium in Magna, encouraging kids to get immunized," she said. "He was in his element, doing important work, but in a way that worked for kids and adults alike."
Gust-Jenson, now executive director of the Salt Lake City Council office, also said the doctor was thrifty and used resources for people who needed them, not on administrative resources. To help people build their own emergency kits, Gibbons got restaurants to donate old soft-drink containers for water storage and found someone to make a multiuse tool for $5, she said.
Gibbons stepped down as Health Department director in 1993, a move prompted by what he saw as political meddling in the business of public health.
As a longtime opponent of smoking, he was pushing for a countywide ordinance to ban smoking in all public buildings and planning to lobby for a similar bill being debated by state lawmakers. When he was told that county employees were expected to stay out of the debate, Gibbons decided to retire.
Even then, his humor stayed intact. When asked by The Tribune to cite his accomplishments as director, Gibbons mentioned six and handed out an "abbreviated" 15-page résumé that included: "Claims the world's largest collection of aerospace tie tacs (over 1,800), claims to make the world's greatest homemade root beer and is proud of his humility."
Gibbons was active in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, along with his wife, Marjorie, who died in 2012. The couple had six children.
A viewing will be held 9 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. Saturday at the Cottonwood Stake Center, 1830 E. 6400 South, followed by the service at 10 a.m.
Twitter: PamelaMansonSLC