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Samuel James Reeves Gamble, 91, died Nov. 20, 2008, at Sunnyside Retirement Community in Harrisonburg, Va., where he lived since 1995.
He was born Dec. 15, 1916, in Pennsauken Township, N.J., and grew up in Schuyler, Va. Mr. Gamble was the son of the late Blanche Hammer and John Robert Gamble. He was preceded in death by his wife of 63 years, Louise Daniel Gamble, of Charlottesville, Va., and his sister, Virginia Gamble Burnett of Staunton, Va.
He served in the U.S. Army in World War II, retiring with the rank of Major. He received the Bronze Star, Infantry Badge, and two Battle Stars.
Mr. Gamble attended Lynchburg College and the University of Virginia and received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Chemistry from Virginia Tech. After working as a research microbiologist at Merck and Co. in Rahway, N.J., he served as a professor of chemistry at Lynchburg College for 25 years and published a number of scientific articles in professional journals. In 1983, he received the Lynchburg College Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award, and in 1991 was presented the College's Distinguished Alumni Award. Sabbatical years were spent at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, France, and with Harvard School of Public Health in Gabes, Tunisia.
Professionally he was a member of the Scientific Research Society Sigma Xi, Phi Sigma Society, Photochemical Society of North America, Virginia Academy of Science, and the Blue Ridge Section of the American Chemical Society.
Mr. Gamble's community activities in Lynchburg included president of the Natural Bridge Appalachian Trail Club, president of Big Brothers Big Sisters, Westminster Presbyterian Church's Timothy Club, Habitat for Humanity, and Crop Walk. He was a master naturalist in the Lynchburg Recreation Department and a member of the Lynchburg Bird Club, the Virginia Wildlife Foundation, and the Virginia Native Plant Society. He worked through Lynchburg Valley Streams to clean and protect the local water sources. Mr. Gamble was the recipient of the Lynchburg Peace Prize in 1989.
One of Mr. Gamble's proudest moments was achieving the status of "through hiker" on the 2,000-mile Appalachian Trail. His trail name was "Smiling Sam." Mr. Gamble was active in the Harrisonburg area with the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club and the Rockingham Bird Club. He was a member of the Massanutten Presbyterian Church. Other keen interests included vegetable gardening, photography, genealogy, fishing, and bridge.
He and his wife, Louise, were avid travelers and were among the first to travel with Elderhostel; they attended more than 45 Elderhostels around the world.
Mr. Gamble is survived by his three children, Margaret Virginia Crawford and her husband, Dudley, of West End, N.C., Marion Daniel McCollum and her husband, Stephen, of Greensboro, N.C., William Reeves Gamble and his wife, Jyl Stover Gamble, of Bridgewater, Va.; grandchildren, Mary Margaret Anderson Cagno and her husband, Gregg, Robert Reeves Anderson and his wife, Brooke, Justin Porter McCollum and his wife, Emily, Ryan Samuel McCollum, Jennifer Kay Dunnington Gamble and Jacquelyn Carrie Gamble; two stepgrandchildren, Elizabeth Rains and Emmett Crawford; a great-grandson, Jesse Crawford Anderson, and many devoted nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be held at the Chapel at Sunnyside on Sunday, Nov. 23, at 2 p.m. Later services will take place at the University of Virginia Cemetery and at Thunder Ridge Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Fellowship Fund of Sunnyside Retirement Communities,
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