Thomas Bingham Gibbs

Thomas Bingham Gibbs, 58, of Maryville, Tennessee, was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on September 28, 1966, and passed away at his home in Maryville on April 4, 2025, due to complications from kidney failure.

He was a survivor of late Stage 4 kidney cancer, which was diagnosed at age 6. In 1972, he was admitted to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, where his doctors removed the cancerous kidney, and he received chemotherapy and other treatments. He was one of the first to participate in a number of new drug trials, including one for a then-unknown drug called Adriamycin, that cured the inoperable cancer that had spread throughout his body and led to him going into remission. This new experimental cancer drug became one of the new standards for treating children with this condition.

Throughout his life, he continued to go back to St. Jude’s while in remission, driving for hours on the weekends to Memphis from Alabama and East Tennessee, for check-ups and to continue to donate blood, tissue, and whatever else he could, in support of future scientific cancer research. As there were no medical histories of young cancer survivors taking experimental medications at that time who continued to survive and thrive many decades later, he was one of the first to redefine what was possible for kids with cancer at that time and age, and in the process, gave his family, and many other families like ours, hope. His miraculous recovery from cancer led many doctors to call him “Miracle Man.” His inspiration continues to be a rallying cry for greater health care options for the public and advocacy for young children whose families cannot afford expensive cancer and other medical treatments.

He was preceded in death by his maternal grandparents, Mildred Pittman Bingham and Thomas Haskell Bingham, his father, Richard Ellis Gibbs Jr., his paternal grandparents, Richard Ellis Gibbs Sr. and Margarette Burke Gibbs, and nephew, Benjamin Conroy Gibbs.

He is survived by his loving wife of 34 years, Angela Gibbs, his parents Sue Bingham Wilson and Versie Luke Wilson, Jr., his siblings, Richard (Sequita) Gibbs III, Lea (Greg) Lunsford, Jeffrey (Romina) Wilson, and Michael Wilson, his sister-in-law, Joy Phillips, his nieces and nephews, Richard Gibbs IV, Rachel Gibbs, Zaire Battle, Dontay Battle, William Wilson, and Wyllow Wilson, and his many wonderful friends and colleagues, including Luevoise Berry, who along with his mother, helped care for him when receiving treatments as a child, and his best friend of many years, Paul Cogswell, both of Huntsville, Alabama.

He had just celebrated 16 years of sobriety and shared his story of recovery, redemption, and survival with others. His friends and sponsors from Alcoholics Anonymous became some of his closest friends and continue to be a source of strength to his family. He continues to be an inspiration to them and his family that change is always possible and that miracles do happen. His belief in God sustained him through even the hardest times, and he knew that he had much to offer others struggling with their sobriety. His faith allowed him to continue to fight and live through his health struggles, including the last few years of dialysis. He was a member of Sevier Heights Baptist Church.

As a long-time Boy Scout, camp counselor, and advocate for young children, he was incredibly excited to hear that one of his nephews had just joined the Boy Scouts, and only weeks before his passing, he sent a large package of camping and equipment, so his nephew would have everything he needed. He loved his entire family with all his heart and would have done anything to help a friend or stranger in need.

A graduate of Butler High School in Huntsville, Alabama, in 1984, and Calhoun College in Decatur, Alabama, in 1987, Thomas had a brilliant mind for understanding electronics and building machines that would creatively solve problems. Even as a kid, he would take apart any piece of electronics he could find just to see how it worked. Although he could have continued his schooling to great success, he knew the path in life that he wanted to take and began working at Care Systems in Huntsville, while finishing his degree at Calhoun, before moving on to work at Sharp in Memphis. As Thomas and his wife, Angela, had always wanted to live near the mountains of East Tennessee, he was thrilled when he was hired at Denso in Maryville, where he spent the last 28 years of his career until his passing. Thomas loved his job, his co-workers, mentoring, and teaching. He had immense respect for the Japanese culture of Denso and Sharp and was frequently sent over to Japan by Denso for training on operating new systems, new machines, and new robots, so that he could share his knowledge and teach others back home how to build, repair, and operate them. A self-proclaimed “gadget maker,” his creativity and knack for problem solving led to him finding solutions that saved his employers millions of dollars over the years.

His visitation will be held at Smith Funeral and Cremation Service, 1402 Tuckaleechee Pike, Maryville, on Friday, April 11, 2025, from 5:00 until 7:00 PM. Funeral services will be held at 7:00 PM on Friday, April 11, 2025 with Rev. Chris Morgan officiating. Family and friends will assemble at 3:00 PM on Saturday, April 12, 2025 at Grandview Cemetery, 2304 Tuckaleechee Pike, Maryville.

Like all his close family, he was a lifelong supporter of Mississippi State University, attended many games since childhood with his grandfather Thomas Bingham, and cheered the Bulldogs in winning its first National Championship at the College World Series in 2021. The family encourages all those who wish to attend any of the services to wear Mississippi State jerseys or other paraphernalia, or anything else they wish, in celebration of Thomas’s life.

He will be remembered for his incredible strength, relentless optimism, his ever-present smile, wicked sense of humor, his favorite hobby of metal detecting, and the love he put out into the world.

In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests that donations be sent in his honor to St. Jude’s Hospital, the National Kidney Foundation of East Tennessee, which advocates, identifies living donors, and provides financial support for those needing transplants, and/or the American Heart Association. His family and friends hope that his passing spurs action by encouraging the public to hold its government and public health officials accountable in addressing our nation’s ongoing health crisis in identifying more kidney and other organ donors and to ensure equitable treatment for those needing kidney or other organ transplants—many of whom have waited for years or decades on waiting lists—so they may continue to live long, fruitful lives, free of suffering and full of joy. Condolences may be shared through Smith Funeral & Cremation Service, Maryville, 865-983-1000, www.SmithfuneralandCremation.com