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Timeline for Sam Gibbons

 
Former U.S. Rep. Sam Gibbons, who served in the Army during World War II, holds a 1943-1944 photo of himself during an interview in 2007. 
Former U.S. Rep. Sam Gibbons, who served in the Army during World War II, holds a 1943-1944 photo of himself during an interview in 2007. 
Published Oct. 11, 2012


Sam Gibbons timeline


Jan. 20, 1920: Born in Tampa.


1938: Enters the University of Florida. Joins the ROTC.


1941-45: Serves in the Army, including as a paratrooper with the 101st Airborne Division. He jumps into Normandy during the D-day invasion. He leaves the service as a major. Awards include the Bronze Star.


Sept. 14, 1946: Marries Martha Hanley of Tampa. They will have three sons: Cliff, Mark and Timothy.


1947: Graduates from the University of Florida law school and joins his father's firm.


1952: Approached by a group of Tampa business and civic leaders who want to send him to Tallahassee to help clean up the Legislature. He is elected to the Florida House.


1956: Gibbons, often dubbed the father of the University of South Florida, shepherds the authorization bill for USF through the Legislature.


1958: Elected to the Florida Senate.


1962: Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.


1969: Appointed to Ways and Means. Serves 12 years as chairman of its subcommittee on trade, promoting free trade and battling tariffs.


1994: Leads Ways and Means for seven months while chairman Dan Rostenkowski, D-Ill., is mired in a criminal investigation. Although Gibbons is re-elected to his 17th term, Republicans win control of the House and Senate, ending his chairmanship.


1995: In a well-publicized incident, he grabs the tie of Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., in a confrontation over a GOP plan to overhaul Medicare funding.


March 4, 1996: Announces retirement from Congress after 34 years. Joins his son Cliff as a lobbyist.


1997: The new Tampa federal courthouse, the Sam M. Gibbons U.S. Courthouse, is dedicated.


2003: Martha Gibbons dies of cancer. Sam Gibbons later marries widow Betty Culbreath, whom he dated in high school.


Oct. 10, 2012: Dies in Tampa.


Compiled by Times news researcher Natalie Watson.


Source: Times files, news wires.