HINESVILLLE, GEORGIA - Leslie Sylvie Gibbons Van Dyck, 58, of Hinesville, Georgia, wife of SSG Roderick John Van Dyck, U. S. Army (Ret.), died peacefully Sunday morning, July 4, 2010, at Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah.

Leslie was born in Fort Monroe, Virginia, to Marilyn Alger Gibbons. She was raised a southern belle in Hampton, Virginia, Newport News and Elizabeth City, North Carolina. Leslie was an excellent student and was awarded a full scholarship at BYU, but did not pursue her goal to become a journalist. Leslie continued to write, however, and was best known for her beautiful handwriting. Leslie loved birthdays and Christmas, rarely missing the opportunity to send beautifully composed cards to all on her list. She relocated to Florida, California, Vancouver and Utah before marrying her loving husband on September 19, 1980 in Langley British Columbia, Canada. Leslie loved to raise monkeys and had raised a wooly spider monkey, squirrel monkey, five capuchins and two cotton topped marmosets. She was also a model and studied Egyptology, royalty, gemology and collected antiques with an extensive collection of antiques, stamps, rare perfumes, jewelry, china, silverware and English royalty items. When her husband Roderick John Van Dyck enlisted in the U.S. Army, Leslie resided in California, Washington D.C., Ft. Riley, Schweinfurt Germany, and Ft. Stewart, Georgia, where they retired in Hinesville, Georgia. Leslie was a good wife and sacrificed much while her husband fought in Desert Storm, Kosovo and invaded Iraq in the global war on terrorism. Leslie was actively supporting her husband’s studies in pursuit of a doctoral degree. Leslie was preceded in death by her maternal grandparents, Florence Alger and Leonard Alger; her paternal grandparents, Lila Gibbons and Avery Gibbons; her uncle “Tip” Alger and her good friend, James Price.

Surviving are her husband, SSG Roderick John Van Dyck, U. S. Army (Ret.) of Hinesville, Georgia; her mother, Marilyn Alger Gibbons; two brothers, Gregory and Glenn Gibbons.

The funeral service will be held at 10 o'clock Friday morning at the graveside, Parklawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Hampton, Virginia.

Leslie firmly believed that those who enter heaven do not enter as they died, but as they were at the happiest point in life.