Brown Metcalfe "Gibby" Roe Jr.

CAMBRIDGE - Brown Metcalfe "Gibby" Roe Jr., 71 of Cambridge, passed away on Sunday, Oct. 7, 2007 at the Chesapeake Woods Center in Cambridge.

He was born on Oct. 14, 1935 in Chestertown, one of the first babies born at Kent & Queen Anne"s Hospital. He was the son of the late Brown Metcalfe and Barbee Humphreys Roe of Chestertown.

Mr. Roe lived the earlier part of his life in Sudlersville, Queen Anne"s County, where the elder Mr. Roe was engaged in the family grain business W.D. Roe & Son with his father, former Maryland Delegate, State Sen. and U.S. Congressman Dudley George Roe who represented Queen Anne"s County from 1907 to 1947.

Mr. Roe, known as "Gibby," attended the Virginia Episcopal School in Lynchburg, Va. where he lettered in football, baseball and track and served on the honor committee. He attended Washington College in Chestertown before joining the Marine Corps.

After discharge from the Marine Corps, he started his career with the D&R Supply Co. in Chestertown, a fuel oil distribution company which also operated gas stations throughout Kent, Queen Anne"s, Cecil, Caroline and Talbot counties and which was founded by his father in 1948. Mr. Roe succeeded his father as president of the firm in 1978 and served in that capacity until the sale of the company in 1989.

He was a director of the Sudlersville Bank of Maryland which was founded by his great-great-grandfather, Joseph Edwin George in 1904. The bank was purchased by Mercantile and later merged with the Chestertown Bank of Maryland.

A lifelong outdoorsman, Mr. Roe and partners purchased property in Crocheron in Dorchester County in 1971 which became the Jenny Island Hunting Lodge. In 1986 Mr. Roe moved from Chestertown to "Elysium," his home in the Neck District of Dorchester County.

He was one of the organizers of the present chapter of Ducks Unlimited in Kent County and has actively supported its programs for 40 years. He served on the board of the Friends of Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, and supported the Ward Museum, the annual Waterfowl Festival in Easton, the National Wildlife Turkey Federation and the historical societies in Dorchester and Talbot counties.

On his paternal side, Mr. Roe was descended from Thomas Roe who settled in Talbot County in 1673 and on his maternal side, he was descended from Joshua Humphreys, the designer of the ships comprising the 1st United States Navy, among them the U.S.F. Constitution and U.S.F. Constellation.

Mr. Roe is survived by his son, Brown Metcalfe Roe III of Warwick; five grandchildren; a sister, Page Barroll of Baltimore, and an uncle, William M.D. Roe of Sudlersville.

A son, Marshall Kenly Roe Sr. died in 2006.

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday at Christ Episcopal Church on High Street in Cambridge with the Rev. Michael D. Reddig, the Rev. Robert Brown, the Rev. Pardee Bramble and the Rev. A. Delmer Willey officiating. Burial will follow in the Sudlersville Cemetery where full military honors will be accorded by the U.S. Marines.

Active pallbearers will be Edward Gillespie, Robert Thompson, Sandy Roe, Sonny Jackson, Kevin Morgan and Dr. Edward Connelly. Honorary Bearers will be Bill Graf, Dr. Lee Smith, Ralph W. Jackson Jr., Roger Brown, Bradley K. Bradford, Earl Todd, Glenn Carowan, Billy Roe, Jack Diller, Rod Hall.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the Friends of Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, P.O. Box 1231, Cambridge, MD 21613.

Arrangements are being handled by the Thomas Funeral Home, P.A. in Cambridge.