Marine Cpl. Christopher Gibson, 23, Simi Valley; Dies in Ambush

On Tuesday, Jessica Brady Gibson is scheduled to attend a solemn ceremony at the Marine Corps base in Twentynine Palms, Calif., to commemorate her fallen husband’s bravery and receive his Purple Heart.

Her husband, Marine Cpl. Christopher Gibson, 23, was killed April 17 in Iraq, one of five Marines ambushed by insurgents outside their base near the Syrian border, relatives said. He died while his unit was escorting a convoy near Qaim.

He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Twentynine Palms.

A lifelong resident of Simi Valley, Gibson was a 1999 graduate of Simi Valley High School.

After graduation, he joined the Marines. “We were as shocked as you can imagine when he told us,” said his mother, Terri Bowman of Las Vegas.

In 2000, Gibson married Jessica, his high school sweetheart. They lived at the Twentynine Palms base with their two children, 3-year-old Ivy and 1-year-old Luke, who was born while his father was overseas during his first deployment.

Gibson last saw his family over the Christmas holidays, and began his second seven-month tour of duty in Iraq in January.

“The grief is deep and it’s overwhelming at times,” his mother said.

Gibson also is survived by his father, Jeff Gibson of China; a stepbrother, Jeremy Bowman of Las Vegas; his grandparents, Larry and Debbie Bowen of Henderson, Nev., and Dave and Lee Fowers of Las Vegas; and his great-grandparents, Bud and Lea Pfotenhauer of Kingman, Ariz.

Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at Reardon Mortuary, 2636 Sycamore Drive, Simi Valley.

Funeral services with full military honors will be held at noon Saturday at Sunrise Christian Fellowship, 2350 Shasta Way, with burial at Assumption Catholic Cemetery, 1380 Fitzgerald Road, both in Simi Valley.