Ben Gibson was part of Denver’s basketball history that was revisited during the buildup to the NBA’s All-Star Weekend at the Pepsi Center in February.
As a 6-foot-10 center with the Central Bankers and Denver-Chicago Truckers, Gibson came along in the days of the National Industrial Basketball League and the National AAU Tournament that was an annual fixture on Denver’s sports scene. The NIBL and AAU Tournament preceded Denver’s entry into the American Basketball Association and later into the NBA.
On May 2, just a couple of days before he was to return to Denver for the summer, Gibson, 74, died in his sleep at his winter home in Green Valley, Ariz. He had been diagnosed with prostate cancer, but it was at a treatable stage.
“Ben had a great career as a player and an officer at Central Bank,” said Dick Eicher, a teammate with the Bankers and Truckers. “He stayed with the bank for 37 years and was a member of the senior management committee when he retired. You can’t get much higher than that in the banking business.”
Services are Thursday at 2 p.m. at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, 12735 W. 58th Ave.
Gibson was the patriarch of an athletic family. His wife, Peggy, who survives, was a talented basketball and softball player at Denver’s North High School. His youngest daughter, Jayne McHugh, played volleyball at Arvada West High School and at the University of the Pacific, where she coaches the women’s team. A son, Jim, played basketball at Arvada West. Another daughter, Patty Lancaster, also survives.
“He always kept athletic participation in great perspective for us,” McHugh said. “When he talked about his participation in the NIBL, he made it sound like great fun.”
Gibson joined the Bankers for the 1952 season after a stellar collegiate career at St. Mary’s in Moraga, Calif.
He left the basketball floor after the 1956-57 season with the Truckers.
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-820-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
