Dr. Willard Selden Gamble, Jr.

ROCHESTER: MINN. Dr. Willard Selden Denny Gamble, loving husband and father, died of complications of Lewy Body dementia on June 6, 2012 in Rochester, MN. Denny was born on April 30, 1933 to Willard and Ann Gamble. He attended Deerfield Academy and Middlebury College. On June 19, 1954, he married Kathleen Stebbins in Deerfield, Massachusetts. He graduated from McGill University Faculty of Medicine in 1959. He interned at the Montreal General Hospital before completing his residency at the Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine. In 1962 and 1963, he was an assistant in gastroenterology at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston as a postdoctoral fellow of the National Institute of Health. From 1963 to 1967, he managed a private practice in Watertown, New York, where he was a member of the attending staff at Mercy Hospital and the House of Good Samaritan. In 1967, he entered the Medical Corps of the United States Army. He was assigned to Brooke General Hospital at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. From 1967 to 1969, he was also a clinical assistant professor of medicine in the University of Texas Medical Branch in San Antonio. He was certified as a specialist in internal medicine in 1966 by the American Board of Internal Medicine and as a specialist in gastroenterology in 1969 by the Subspecialty Board of Gastroenterology of the American Board of Internal Medicine. He left the United States Army in June 1969, with the grade of major, and accepted a post at the Mayo Clinic. He retired from that position in 1991. Throughout his life, Denny was a vibrant sportsman- sailing competitively as a youth, running track in high school and college, pacing the sidelines as head coach of his youth football team, skating on an adult hockey team and sharing his passion for skiing, canoeing, hockey, tennis, golf, and other sports with his family. His love of the outdoors started with childhood summers in the Adirondacks and led to many family trips to the Boundary Waters, cherished hiking vacations to Ireland, Wales and Scotland with his wife, Kathy and many wonderful days working in the woods at his daughter's farm in Millville, Minnesota, accompanied by his dog, Rosie. Denny was an avid reader and collector of novels, plays and poetry. Throughout his life, he was committed to service: as a young man he traveled to Mississippi to help with voter registrations, during the 1960's and dedicated his career to helping his patients while also volunteering for organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and Hospice. In his love for his wife, nurturing support of his children and commitment to honesty, integrity and fairness, Denny was constant and true to himself. Denny is survived by his wife, Kathleen; six children, Heile (Tom McGibbon) Gamble Walter, Peter (Trisha) Gamble, Charles (Erica) Gamble, Kate (Rolland Dickson) Gamble, John (Heather) Gamble and Megan (Brian) Gamble Jones; seven grandchildren, Paul Gamble, Annelies Gamble, Graham Dickson, Anna Dickson, Cooper Gamble, Megan Gamble and Emilia Gamble and a sister, Lisbeth Nichols. A private family service will be held at a later date. Memorial contributions may be made to Mayo Clinic's Alzheimer's Disease Research Center or Mayo Hospice 200 1st Ave. SW, Rochester, MN 55905 or to Paws and Claws Humane Society 602 7th St. NW, Rochester, MN 55901.