Irving Gilbert “Gib” Wescott

FREEPORT – Irving Gilbert “Gib” Wescott- passed away peacefully on Aug. 21, 2024 at age 87. He passed where he wanted to be, with his beloved family members near in the home that he built with his wife, Deborah, nearly a half century ago. 

Gib was born in the Freeport Hospital on April 28, 1937, and grew up on the Pleasant Hill Road where many neighbors were part of his extended family. He was the youngest of four boys born to Josephine Morse Wescott and Robert Wescott. Growing up he learned to work hard in a family that valued hard work and he carried that trait throughout his life. He treasured his neighborhood and always knew where the biggest blueberries and sweetest strawberries grew. He would say that there was no time for mischief in those days, but nevertheless developed a sense of humor that played out in the various pranks he would play on unsuspecting friends and family members. Each spring he helped his family boil down sap for maple syrup calling that sweet taste “magic” when his Dad passed him a cup. He had fond memories of tramping through the woods with his brothers and cousins. Years later he was proud to donate almost 40 acres of those woods to the Freeport Conservation Trust so that others could enjoy them as he did as a boy.

Gib graduated from Freeport High School and became a lifelong Freeport resident. He left home only to serve two years in the Army and then again for a short time to work in the hospitality industry in Clearwater, Florida and on Cape Cod where he enjoyed adventures in a world very different from that he was familiar with. But in the early 1970s he came home to Freeport to build a house for his parents “under the hill” below Pleasant Hill on what his mother would name as the “Ringrose Road”. One day Deb Winchenpaw came to visit a neighbor just up the road and the rest is history. They fell in love in a courtship where dating involved riding together on the family tractor, going to auctions, picking fiddleheads, and Gib teaching Deb whatever he though she needed to know. They were married in July 1981, and a few years later adopted their son, Jai. Gib said many times that Jai was the best thing that ever happened to he and Deb, and he was enormously proud of him.

Gib was a talented craftsman and went on to make a career installing drywall and other construction-related trades. His life was filled with many interests. He was an avid reader, often consuming three or four books a week. He had a deep thirst for learning including everything he could learn about the lore of his world—his extended family and the neighborhood in and around Pleasant Hill where he grew up. He collected pictures and stories that he held dear throughout his life and shared them with all who shared his interest. Gib was an accomplished gardener and passed on knowledge about how to raise the juiciest tomatoes, the biggest potatoes or the most interesting heirloom vegetables to all who sought his advice…and even if they didn’t. He was proud that he harvested all of the timber from his own land to build the home for his parents and then later on to the home he built for his family. Gib knew what it meant to be a good neighbor and why that matters in this world. He would gladly share the knowledge he gained throughout his life, and was always ready to lend his hand to anyone who needed it.

Gib was predeceased by brothers, Walter R. Wescott, Reginald O. Wescott, and Bradley G. Wescott; father Robert Reginald Wescott, mother Josephine Morse Wescott and nephew Frederick Wescott. He is survived by his loving wife Deborah Winchenpaw Wescott, son Jai Wescott, nieces and nephews, Catherine Wescott, Bradley (Buddy) Wescott Jr., Daniel Wescott, Lisa Cheney, Tina Travierso, Adria Travierso, Maria Wescott, Maureen Wescott, David Wescott, Lydia Dolan, adopted sister Patrice Roy and all of their family members.

The family wants to extend its special thanks to CHANS Home Health and Hospice and Right at Home Care for the skilled and compassionate care they provided to Gib in his last months.

A Celebration of LIfe will be held at the Freeport Harraseeket Grange at 13 Elm Street in Freeport on Sunday October 20, at 2 p.m. Light refreshments will be available. Condolences may be shared at Funeralalternatives.net.

In lieu of flowers, Take a walk on “Gibby’s Trail” off of Ringrose road, Freeport and/or make a donation to the Freeport Conservation Trust at 53 Depot St., Freeport, Maine 04032 (https://freeportconservationtrust.org/gifts); or to Habitat for Humanity International, 322 West Lamar Street, Americus, Georgia 31709-3543

(https://www.habitat.org/support).