Alfred Anthony Gibson

Alfred Anthony Gibson was born on October 5, 1943 in Miami, Florida to Samuel & Ruth Gibson. Not long after he was born, they moved to the “Big Apple”, New York, and decided to reside in Brooklyn.Alfred (AL) was the oldest of 8 children. During his school years Al was very athletic and enjoyed sports and was accomplished track runner. Growing up in the 1950’s was a hard time for men of color and in his search for independence he joined the United States Army as a Paratrooper. He served two tours of active duty and returned home with an honorable discharge and a Vietnam Veteran.

Once back home in New York, he began his career with the New York Police Department as a Transit Cop. After 26 years on the force, he decided it was time to retire from the NYPD. Even in his retirement, he wanted to stay active and continued working. He did private security for the prestigious Vance International group and was the personal security for many celebrities and government officials. He was also an influential security figure with USA Today. 

“Al G” or “Uncle Al” which he was referred to by many was a man who lived by the beat of his own drum. He had a passion for traveling & music. He lived in Florida, Maryland, and all over New York from the city to upstate NY. He had no problem jumping in a car taking long trips and might occasionally give his best Al Green, Marvin Gay, or even Frank Sinatra impressions while doing so. He lived in his moments and created memories that he would have no problem telling you about if you had the time to listen.

Al G was a fighter. He had a saying “You are not going to win every fight, but there are some fights you just can’t lose.” As he got older, he tried the ways he could in efforts to continue to fight to make amends with those he could. He had a fight with prostate cancer; and won. The last years of his of his life he fought against ESRD (End Stage Renal Disease) and was on dialysis. His independence wanted to fight this fatal disease one on one in the end and he decided to stop dialysis in July 2023. While struggling off dialysis he kept optimistic and said, “he was going to beat it.” Unfortunately, this was a fight he lost on the morning of September 19, 2023. 

Uncle Al is now taking his trip to God undoubtedly playing one of his favorite Frank Sinatra songs “My Way”. He is survived by his wife Patricia Gibson. His siblings, Larry, Calvin, Ron, and Celeste Ruth. His children, David, Venus, Anton, Fred, and Shana and all his grandchildren which he loved dearly. Al did not want a big service or anything of the sort. He did love family coming together enjoying good food and celebrating. Today we celebrate his life in true Al G fashion with friends and family coming together