John Leslie Gilbert, 86, of Panama City, Florida, passed away on Thursday, March 16, 2017 at Northside Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida.  John was a happy and thriving resident of assisted living facility, Grand Villas, in Pinellas Park, Florida for the last year of his life. John was born in Brewster, Florida on March 30, 1930.  Son of Fred and Catherine Gilbert, John attended Bay High School in Panama City, Florida and joined the U.S. Navy at the age of 17.  He was stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, Kodiak Island, Alaska, and Long Beach and San Diego, California.  He worked as a welding inspector and owned the Question Mark Bar in San Diego during the 1950s.  He retired from the Navy as a second class shipfitter in Mayport, Florida in 1968.  Following retirement, John worked as a welding inspector in San Diego, then New Jersey and New York where served in that capacity for the construction of the World Trade Center.  He then resided in Garibaldi and Bay City, Oregon as an entrepreneur and restaurant owner.  In 2005, John returned to Panama City, Florida and remarried his high school sweetheart and first wife, Marjorie Star Gilbert, in 2010.

John was an enthusiastic Tampa Bay Rays fan and an avid poker player with a competitive edge and tremendous sense of humor. His love for life was evident from his charitable spirit and enthusiastic smile that he shared with everyone he met.

John is survived by his brother Donald Gilbert, his son Rick Ortega and his wife Debbie, his son Tommy Ortega and his partner Kim Coulliette, his sister-in-law Janet Gilbert, his sister-in-law Helen King, and a large extended family, including his step-daughter Maggie Odom, her children, Timothy Odom and his wife Courtney and their children Aiden and Rhylen, John Odom and his wife Brianna and daughter Zoe, his step-son Joe Horne and his wife Wanda and their children and grandchildren, his step-granddaughter Starlett Massey and her son Maxwell, and his step-granddaughter Julianne Hawkins.

A graveside memorial will take place Saturday, May 27, 2017, at 10:00 am at Greenwood Cemetery in Panama City, Florida. Please send memorial donations in lieu of flowers to Grand Villas – Pinellas Park, 8980 49 ^th Street N, Pinellas Park, FL 33782.