Richard Francis Gamble of Warwick died on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2019. He was 93.
Dick enjoyed a long and successful life doing all the things he loved – engineering, boating, woodworking, planting and caring for trees, and above all, being a devoted husband and father. He was a natural leader. His integrity and drive, tempered with a good dose of humor, inspired many.
He was born April 3, 1926, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Walter Paterson Gamble and Frances Durkee Gamble. He spent his childhood in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Sioux City, Iowa.
In 1939 the family moved to Wethersfield, Conn., where he soon met the love of his life, Josephine Young. After high school, he enlisted in the Navy and served during World War II as navigator and C.I.C. Officer on the Wallace L. Lind, DD703, arriving in Japan just after the cessation of hostilities.
He returned home in 1946, married Josephine and got his mechanical engineering degree from the University of Connecticut.
In 1954 he was hired by Hamilton Standard, a division of United Technologies Corporation (UTC), as a test engineer. Rising steadily, he was made president of Hamilton Standard in 1970 and finally retired in 1987 as a senior vice president of UTC.
He was then free to take on his hobbies in earnest. He co-founded “Connyak,” a Connecticut sea kayaking club. He built his own sea kayaks at their home in Essex. His beautiful kayaks were admired at the annual Wooden Boat Show in Mystic, Conn.
Dick served on the Board of Trustees of the University of Connecticut, and helped found the University of Connecticut Engineering Alumni Association. He received the University of Connecticut’s Medal for Outstanding Achievement and Leadership.
Dick was active in Essex town government, serving on the Board of Finance, Planning Commission and Tree Committee.
He is survived by his wife Josephine; three children: Bruce Gamble and his wife Beth of Lenox, Mass., Carolyn Gamble of Alexandria, Va., and Ginny Gamble and her husband Chris Emmerich of Warwick; eight grandchildren: Jonathan Gamble, Megan Caldwell, Caitlin Yengo, Devin Gamble, Thomas Gamble, Rebecca Brown, Anna Smith and Lee Emmerich; and eight great-grandchildren.
He is predeceased by son, Richard D. Gamble, brothers Everitt Gamble, George Gamble and John Gamble and daughter-in-law, Sarah Landrigan Gamble.
The family received relatives and friends on Aug. 22 at the D’Esopo Funeral Chapel in Wethersfield, Conn.
A private burial followed.
Donations may be made to Hospice of Orange County, 800 Stony Brook Court, Newburgh NY 12550 and the Warwick Valley Humane Society, P.O. Box 61, Warwick NY 10990.
To share a memory of Dick with his family, please visit www.desopofuneralchapel.com.