A noonday funeral today with full military honours will be accorded former Bermuda Regiment Music Director Captain Horace Richard Stanley Gibbons at historic St. Peter’s Church, Sr.George’s. He died on April 5 at age 91.Capt Gibbons was aged 15 when he joined the Bermuda Militia Artillery (BMA) band in 1935. In 1958 when the Bermuda Regiment was formed through amalgamation of the white-officered, predominantly black BMAs and the all-white Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corp (BVRCs), Capt Gibbons became its first Bermudian bandmaster.Today, the Regimental Band will form a guard of honour on the steps of the historic church as the Bandmaster’s coffin is borne inside. Pallbearers will be retired bandsmen. During the service, a musical tribute by two of Capt. Gibbon’s most accomplished protégées will be the rendition of his favourite tune, “O Danny Boy” (Londonderry Air) by Major Kenneth Dill on the piano and Major Barret Dill on the trumpet.After the service, the Band will march the coffin from the church to the North Shore burial ground. The ‘Last Post’ will be sounded by trumpeters from the Regiment Band and the North Village Band.Capt. Gibbons was by no means a swashbuckling old soldier.His career was tempered by the fact that music was his forte throughout his long military career and everything else in which he engaged.That included his church work, in the classroom as a school teacher and as a saxophonist in one or another of the various dance bands, earning extra money to support his family.He is survived by Artimeza, his wife of 72 years, and sons Fred and Melvin, the latter an old soldier and bandsman, who is president of the Royal Artillery Club in St. George’s.