James Bryson Gilbert (100), died on November 21, 2022. He lived his four last years in Minneapolis, MN with vitality and enthusiasm, always coupled with his hallmark intellect and astute insights. He and his energy for life, love of family, and unconventional wisdom will be greatly missed by his friends and family.

Dr. Gilbert - known as Bryson to his family, Jim to many of his friends, and Poppy or Pop Pop to his grandchildren and great grandson - was born in Newark, Delaware on March 17, 1922. The son of an Episcopal minister, The Rev. Dr. James C. Gilbert, and a school teacher, Mary Jane (nee Broadbridge) Gilbert, he spent his youth in the greater Philadelphia area and graduated from Haverford College in 1943. Unable to qualify for enlistment in the US Army to fight in WWII because of myopia, Bryson changed the focus of his college studies to the sciences in preparation for medical school. Men with his level of near- sightedness were able to serve in WW II as physicians.

Upon entering medical school, Bryson immediately joined the US Army. After earning election to Alpha Omega Alpha, the prestigious national honor medical society, he graduated from Jefferson Medical College in the spring of 1946 as a Captain. Because WW II had ended, Dr. Gilbert, along with many of his medical school classmates, joined the U.S. Public Health Service as a Surgeon (Lt. Cmdr.). He was stationed at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Massachusetts and later served on the USCGS Wachusett, homeported at Juneau, Alaska, in the Bering Sea as well as the Pacific. He then took an appointment in the Biochemistry Division of the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland (1949-1956). During his tenure at the NIH, he was sent to University of California - Berkley, where he spent a year working with St. Paul native and Chemistry Nobel Prize Winner, Professor Melvin Calvin.

Professionally, Dr. Gilbert continued his academic path. In 1956, he started and subsequently held positions at the University of Texas in Austin where he began taking vitamin supplements while conducting vitamin research which is likely the start of the pursuit of his own brand of personal wellness. After 7 years at West Virginia University School of Medicine in Morgantown, in !970, he took a faculty position at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, Department of Molecular Biology where he was largely focused on cancer research. After retiring, he began a second career in investing, and continued to live in Madison until, at age 96, he moved to a senior living community in Minneapolis, less than a mile from his eldest daughter's home. Known to have valuable insights on bank stocks, he was an active contributor on Barron's financial news platform even as a centenarian.

Dr. Gilbert enjoyed a big family life. In 1954, he wed Enid May Fischer, MD, of Sydney, Australia and together they had 5 children. Bryson especially enjoyed spending time in the great outdoors with his son and four daughters. In the 1960's and 70's, his happiest moments were camping in state and national parks or on a family wilderness property on the shore of Langford Lake in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. An enormous, generations-old bald eagle's nest, spired over the property which awed Bryson and his children. Everything about the outdoors was a fascination for Bryson. Over the years, he equipped the family with campers, tents, boats, hiking boots, sleeping bags, skis, parkas, fishing rods, propane lanterns - anything and everything to enable his kids and their friends to get outside. He instilled a great respect for the environment and love of nature in each of his children.

Dr. Gilbert was unique in his time, seeing that healthy bodies and productive minds were intricately connected. He often cited the Greek philosopher Thales's phrase, "Sound mind, sound body." As both a great thinker and an active sportsman, while at Haverford College, he played varsity soccer as a left winger. As a middle-aged adult, he started and completed 19 marathons, becoming a top 5 marathoner in his age group in the Midwest. He was disciplined with nutrition - including vitamin supplements - physical exercise, and medical care until his death. On his 100th birthday, a Minneapolis Fox 9 (KMSP) TV reporter asked him, "What's your advice for living a long and prosperous life?" He replied, "Do what your physician says!" fox9.com/video/…

Bryson rarely watched television at any point in his life, but in his later years, he readily admitted he was addicted to his computer and iPhone, saying they were his lifelines to information right up until his last hours. Curious and able to expound on nearly any subject, young people often referred to him as "the original human Google." A life-long believer in the importance of learning and education, Bryson loved seeing his grandchildren find their academic path in life and was a frequent sounding board for them.

Dr. Gilbert was preceded in death by his parents Mary Jane (nee Broadbridge) Gilbert (1897-1962) and The Rev. Dr. James Carroll Gilbert (1896-1983), his only son, James Christian Gilbert (1960-1983), and a grandson, Thomas Kingsley Lawrence (1996-2018). Dr. Gilbert is survived by his four daughters and their spouses: Mary Gilbert Lawrence, MD (James) of Minneapolis, MN; Elizabeth Ann Gilbert-Bono (Mark) of Wellesley Hills, MA; Jennifer Gilbert Voss (Daniel) of Lexington, MA; Rebecca Dierdre Gilbert-Hills, MD (James) of Ashland, OR; his sister and her husband: Jane Charis (nee Gilbert) Julian (William Alexander IV) of Carlsbad, CA; two nieces: Linda Julian Fischer (Steven), Carol Julian McKinnon (Graeme); a nephew: William Alexander Julian V (Kimberly Alexy); ten grandchildren: Alexandra Gilbert-Bono Familia (Ellery), Louis Bryson Gilbert-Bono, Christian John Lawrence, James Samuel Lawrence, Blake Anthony Gilbert-Bono, Spencer Jered Hills, Curtis Henry Hills, Kiara May Hills, Rebecca Elizabeth Voss, Nathaniel Christian Edward Voss; and one great-grandson: Greyson Gilbert Familia.

Dr. Gilbert’s family would like to convey their heartfelt gratitude to the Walker Methodist Place personnel for their embracing community and fine care, enabling Jim to live his last years in dignity, comfort, and independence. Memorials may be made to Haverford College, Haverford, PA; Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN; Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA; or Walker Methodist Place, Minneapolis, MN.

Published on December 25, 2022