Frederick ‘Laurie’ and Patricia Gibson
Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame in 2023.
Fredrick Gibson, known as Laurie, was born in 1929 in the Nepean region of New South Wales, to a family that operated a local sawmill. Growing up, he would work at the sawmill most days after school as well as weekends. In 1949 Laurie began getting tired of cutting wood but he saw demand for firewood delivery to homes in the area. So, he saved up what little money he had and bought a beat-up old flatbed ute to drop off firewood to families in the cold winter months. In the summer months he would deliver stock-feed to local farms, this led to the purchase of a second flatbed truck. This was the beginning of F.L Gibson Transport.
Being a true Aussie larrikin Laurie built strong relationships with local farmers which led to him starting bulk milk collection from various farms 7 days a week. The milk business grew rapidly so more trucks were purchased to keep up with demand. The truck fleet grew to around 10, the trucks of choice were Leyland and Benz. Laurie maintained the trucks himself, over a pit in the backyard.
Laurie met Patricia (Pat) Judd, who was born in Wagga Wagga in 1931. They married in 1952 and had three sons together. As the boys got older they would all help out with the business. The three boys helped with deliveries and daily tasks. Pat would also drive the trucks to help out when they were short on drivers.
With the takeover of Nepean Milk Co-Op by United Dairies, the finished and packaged deliveries continued to grow. These deliveries were throughout all New South Wales.
Laurie and Pat’s three sons, Rob, Graham and Ian took the reins of the business. This allowed Laurie and Pat to spend time with their 6 grandkids, taking them all around Australia on various trips. Laurie’s favourite thing to do was to spend time with his family and help them out whenever he could. Laurie never truly retired. He would always be doing odd jobs on the trucks and keeping a smile on everyone's faces with his quick wit.
Following a battle with cancer, Laurie passed away in April 2010 leaving behind a 61-year legacy in transport. In 2011, the three sons purchased a cold storage facility in Sydney and rebranded as Food Boss Cold Storage and Transport. Today, Food Boss operate a fleet of 50 trucks that deliver to all capital cities with various refrigerated goods. Sadly, Pat passed away in January 2021. The 3rd generation of family is now working in the business as the company continues to grow.
