Charles Brendan Gibbons

Charles Brendan Gibbons was born on March 7, 1945, in Pittston, PA to Eugene and Mary (née McNamara) Gibbons and died on February 1, 2023, in Pittsburgh, PA. He grew up in Scranton, graduated from Scranton Prep, and earned a BA in English from the University of Scranton in 1967, graduating Alpha Sigma Nu (with Honors). As a college junior, Charlie interned at the Wall Street Journal and had a front-page by-line; a framed copy of the article remains in his office. In his senior year of college, Charlie met Patricia Kilduff. Charlie, knowing Pat was the love of his life, proposed after three months of dating. Charlie and Pat were married June 9, 1968. They would have celebrated their 55 th wedding anniversary this June.

Charlie earned his law degree from Boston College Law School in 1970, after which he served asa law clerk for the Honorable Michael J. Egan, Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, for three years. He and Pat moved to Pittsburgh to begin his career as a trial lawyer with the law firm of Berkman Ruslander Pohl Lieber and Engel under the tutelage of the late Robert (Bob) Engel. He remained with the same firm – though the name changed around him and is currently Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC – for his entire fifty-year career, at points serving as the firm’s Chair of the Litigation Department and Member of its Executive Committee. Outside the firm, Charlie served as a past chairman of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Evidence Committee and was a member of the original committee which drafted the Rules of Evidence for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He authored over 20 books on Pennsylvania and Federal Rules of Evidence as well as Pennsylvania Civil Procedure and Discovery Practice. Charlie was a fantastic litigator, who earned the respect of the legal community in which he practiced. Amongst his many honors, Charlie was a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a member of the American Law Institute. He was also a member of the Academy of Trial Lawyers of Allegheny County and the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association. Charlie served as a past president of Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network and Neighborhood Legal Services. Charlie was also a frequent lecturer on evidence and trial practice, and, in January 2020, he traveled to Saipan to lecture at the Pacific Judicial Conference. He relished the adventure. More than one colleague noted that as much as Charlie was known for his legal acumen, it was his wit and kindness that left a lasting impression.

While Charlie loved the law, his family was his life. Charlie was the proud father of four children, who he loved immensely along with their spouses: Brendan More Gibbons and Dawn Marshall Gibbons of Catonsville, MD; Sara Gibbons Holland and Dr. Brian Holland of Louisville, KY; Kerry Kilduff Bender and Brad Bender of Philadelphia, PA; and Colin Young Gibbons and Brigette McCabe Gibbons of Pittsburgh, PA. Charlie also was blessed with eight grandchildren, in whom he delighted and who called him “Mr. Charlie”: Quinn and Rory Gibbons; William and Emily Holland; Caroline and Colin Patrick Bender; and Harper and Reese Gibbons. He was preceded in death by his beloved younger brother, Joseph F. Gibbons. In addition to his immediate family, Charlie is survived by his brother Gene Gibbons of Alexandria, VA, his sister-in-law Mary Ellen Gibbons of Clarks Summit, PA, his brother-in-law Kevin Kilduff of San Francisco, CA, as well as his nieces and nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews, and an extended family of first, second, and third cousins, who to him, true to his Irish heritage, were just “cousins.”

A memorial service will be held at Heinz Chapel on March 4, 2023, at 10:30 am. In lieu of flowers, please consider a gift to The Neighborhood Academy, 709 North Aiken Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15206, https://www.theneighborhoodacademy.org/ or any other organization in your community that is putting good out into the world. Arrangements by John A. Freyvogel Sons, Inc. (freyvogelfuneralhome.com)

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