Barbara S. 'Scottie' Giebink

Barbara S. “Scottie” Giebink died Monday, October 29, 2012 at the age of 91 in Bozeman, Montana. She was born October 24, 1921, in Perry, Iowa to Ethel (Harris) and Alph O. Scott. An accomplished pianist, she studied under Dr. Gertrude Huntoon Nourse at Drake University in her pre-teens and gave her first concert at the age of 10. At 18, she was guest piano soloist with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Dimitri Mitropoulos. Scottie attended MacMurray College for one year before transferring to the University of Minnesota in 1939, where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and Sigma Alpha Iota honorary music fraternity. She married Gilbert G. “Gil” Giebink in 1941. They lived briefly in Washington, D.C. before settling in Edina, MN, a suburb of Minneapolis, to raise their five children. Once her children were in school, Scottie participated in the Minnesota Plan for Continuing Education for Women to complete her BA degree in Music in 1963, and went on to gain a Masters Degree in American Studies in 1969. She stayed involved with the University as a researcher for their counseling Center for Women. In Minneapolis, she was also active with the Young Peoples Symphony Concert Association as president from 1968 to 1970 and was a long-time member of the League of Women Voters and P.E.O. In 1970, Scottie, Gil and their youngest son, John, moved to Bozeman, Montana, where she and Gil joined the faculty of Montana State University. There, she was co-founder and director of Focus on Women and director of the Center for Older Student Services. In 1976, she travelled to China as the leader of a Kellogg Foundation study group on Women’s Concerns in Lesser Developed Countries. She returned to China in 1979 as part of a 19-member Delegation for Friendship Among Women, the first group of Americans invited into the Peoples Republic of China after the normalization of Chinese-American relations. In 1980, Scottie established Focus International Tours, conducting study-travel tours to Russia, Greece, Turkey, New Zealand, Australia, Scandinavia, Europe, Japan and South America. By limiting the groups to 20-30 people, she facilitated interaction between her tour members and professionals in these other countries with similar interests. She published her book, “Travelwise: Tips for International Travel”, in 1996. Following the death of her husband Gilbert in 1981, Scottie spent winters in Vero Beach, Florida, and summers in Bozeman. In addition to Gil, she was preceded in death by her son Dr. G. Scott Giebink of Minneapolis. She is survived by her children Nancy Giebink of Nordland, WA; Thomas Giebink of Austin, TX; David Giebink of Great Falls, VA; John Giebink of So. Burlington, VT; 8 grandchildren (Peter, Brent, Kate, Chris, Laura, Casey, Tim and Faye) and 5 great-grandchildren, as well as her companion of 30 years, Roger Wheelwright, of Vero Beach, FL.