Marian Joy Goodale Gibson 1937-2024

By Atascadero News · Thu Jan 22 2026

Our beautiful mother, Marian Joy Goodale Gibson, passed away peacefully on November 6, 2024, in Pasadena, California.

Joy is survived by her sister Elaine Smith and daughters Margo Mosher and her husband Gil, Teresa Galli and her husband Guido. She is also survived by five grandchildren. In 2019, Joy was predeceased by her loving husband of sixty-four years, Glen Gibson. 

Joy was born on Jan 4, 1937, in Paso Robles, California, to Josephine and Harold Goodale. As a sophomore at Paso Robles High, Joy met Glen Gibson, who was to be the love of her life. In 1955, at the age of eighteen, just after graduating from high school, she married Glen, who had just completed Army Basic Training. She set out from their small hometown as a new Army wife for a lifetime of travel and adventure across the United States, Europe, and Asia. 

Joy’s priority was always her family. Wherever the Army took them, Joy oversaw the organizing and setting up of a new life. She used her talents for design and art to create warm, stylish, beautiful homes for the family.  She loved to entertain and had a talent for hosting beautiful dinner parties for friends and family. Over the years, she expressed herself through gardening, interior design, fashion, cooking, and art. She even took belly dancing and tap-dancing classes! Along with volunteering in her daughters’ classrooms and taking college courses, she was a busy woman.

After twenty years, Glen retired from the Army, but that didn’t stop them from continuing to move, work, and travel, managing resorts in California and the Southwest. Joy and Glen eventually truly retired and moved back to their hometown of Paso Robles.  Joy was a loving Nana, spending time as an active part of her grandchildren’s lives. She and Glen reconnected with childhood friends and became active in local events. 

Joy will be remembered for her dedication to her family and for her smiling, optimistic personality. She truly did bring Joy to the World. 

Interment will be on January 20, 2026, at 11:00 am at the Paso Robles Cemetery.