The Death of Harry Gibson is the Passing of an Era in Munger Place

Historic home in the Munger Place Historic District located at 4940 Worth Street, Dallas, Texas.
4940 Worth Street was on the corner of Collett and Worth Street, with a wraparound porch, which increased the view of the neighborhood and those who gathered on the porch.

Harry Gibson, married to Marian Gibson, was a legendary figure in Munger Place and in Dallas. He and Marian, in the early 1970s, were one of the first urban pioneers in Munger Place and Old East Dallas. He was chair of the Old East Dallas Community Design Committee Neighborhood C. He ran these neighborhood meetings with the same toughness he did as Secretary General of the Dallas Public Employees Union. He was as tough as they came and incredibly politically astute. His wife knew everyone in the city and everyone in the neighborhood, and she let people know what they should be doing. What once was the first home to be renovated, a beacon of hope for the neighborhood, a home for neighborhood parties including Swiss Avenue, and a home with the highest Munger Place architectural rating, over 50 years deteriorated and became the most distressed property in the neighborhood. The morning Harry Gibson was removed from the home, his stepson, Daryl Probst, his daughter, neighbors and friends gathered to say goodbye. The family was incredibly kind to me when I was 22 and I first moved into the neighborhood and knew nothing about old houses, home ownership or politics. I could always stop by their house to get something to eat if my cupboards were bare. I will be forever grateful. Daryl Probst, sitting on the front porch, was one of the handful of investors in the first two new homes that were built after Munger Place became a historic district.

Harry Gibson home at 4940 Worth Street in the Munger Place Historic District of Dallas before the 2025 renovation.
4940 Worth Street home before the 2025 renovation. This home was one of the first homes in Munger Place to be renovated in 1975. Fifty years later, it had deteriorated again and is one of the few unrenovated homes. In 2026, it has been totally renovated again.
Wide porch of historic home at 4940 Worth Street in Munger Place Historic District, Dallas, Texas.
Last day of Harry Gibson at 4940 Worth Street. His son Daryl Probst is sitting on the porch.
The historic neighborhood of Munger Place at 4940 Worth Street, Dallas, Texas.
Harry and Marian Gibson’s daughter, Marcia Gibson, is at 4940 Worth Street as her father is being taken away. The home at 4940 Worth Street was in the precise center of the neighborhood and the center of neighborhood activities for decades. Harry Gibson, after he retired, could always be seen on his front porch welcoming visitors.