Thelma Vernell Anderson Gibson, a pioneering nurse, civil rights advocate and longtime Coconut Grove community leader, has died at 99.
According to a statement from her family, Gibson died at home on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, surrounded by family and her priest. She was described as a “beloved nurse, trailblazer, community champion and family matriarch,” whose greatest achievement was serving “the community, her family and her church, Christ Episcopal Church.” Funeral arrangements are pending.
Born Dec. 17, 1926, on Charles Street — formerly known as Evangelist Street — Gibson grew up in Coconut Grove’s segregated “Colored Town” in a home without electricity or running water. She was the sixth of 14 children.
Gibson graduated from George Washington Carver High School in February 1944 and later attended St. Agnes Hospital Nursing School through the federal Cadet Nurse Corps, a World War II–era program created to address nationwide shortages. After graduating in 1947, she was hired at Jackson Memorial Hospital, becoming one of the first Black nurses employed there. Segregation initially barred her from working in the operating room, but she continued advancing her education while mentoring young people.
Thelma Gibson in the early years of her nursing career. / Forbearance: Thelma Vernell Anderson Gibson: the life story of a Coconut Grove native.
Over the next three decades, Gibson worked as a nurse in the Miami area. She pursued advanced studies at Catholic University, Florida A&M University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Miami, later earning a bachelor’s degree in nursing education from Teachers College, Columbia University. She went on to become the first African American assistant supervisor at the Miami-Dade County Department of Health.
In 1967, she married the Rev. Theodore Gibson, a pioneering Episcopal priest and civil rights leader who later served on the Miami City Commission. Together, they advocated for desegregation and basic infrastructure improvements in historically Black neighborhoods.
After retiring from nursing in 1980, Gibson expanded her civic work. In 1983, she established the Theodore Gibson Memorial Fund, which helped create the Gibson Plaza Community and Educational Center and supported youth STEM initiatives. She later helped form the Miami-Dade Women’s Chamber of Commerce and worked with the Coconut Grove Local Development Corporation to expand affordable housing, eliminate blight and create youth programs.
A resolution from Miami-Dade County presented to Theodore and Thelma Gibson, c. 1981.
(Courtesy of Episcopal Archives)
Gibson also served as an interim Miami city commissioner in 1997. In 2000, community leaders founded the Thelma Gibson Health Initiative (TGHI) in her honor. Although she often reminded supporters that she did not found the organization, she served as a founding sponsor and remained closely associated with its mission to address issues including HIV/AIDS, mental health, housing instability and poverty across Miami-Dade County.
Miami Civil Rights pioneer Thelma Gibson spots a photo of herself in the history wall immortalizing alumni from George Washington Carver Elementary.
(Natalie La Roche Pietri)
In December, members of the Coconut Grove community gathered to celebrate Gibson’s 99th birthday with a fundraiser supporting TGHI’s effort to establish a permanent home. Gibson, who was unable to attend due to a hospital stay, shared a recorded message expressing gratitude “that God let me live this long” and for the opportunity “to help make change take place.”
Miami-Dade County Commissioner Raquel Regalado previously presented a proclamation naming Dec. 19 Thelma Gibson Day in Coconut Grove, recognizing her decades of service.