Voted “Most athletic” at Cascade High School by his graduating class in 1988, Doug “Hop” Gamble was an obvious choice.
For one of the largest high schools in the state, excelling in any sport is quite an accomplishment. Gamble was a stand out in three sports: football, basketball and baseball.
If they offered tiddlywinks as a season, he probably would have been excellent at that, too.
One would imagine that, at age 36, sports would still be his passion, but his devotion was aimed another direction.
Most weeknights, Gamble left his job with Heat and Frost Insulators Local 7, and his home in Mill Creek, to hurry to Marysville to get son Tyler, 11, to youth sport practices and games.
The single father aimed to be the rock in his son’s life.
Gamble died March 8, at the Everett home of his parents, Doug and Shirley Gamble, after a bout with the flu.
There were more than 400 mourners at his funeral.
“The Gamble house was where all the neighborhood kids used to go to play,” said friend Barb Simpson. “Doug and Shirley were the nicest people and always opened their door.”
Doug Gamble was so full of life, Simpson said. Their usual entertainment was basketball.
Her first kiss came from Gamble, said Candace Vold.
“He was the cutest boy in school,” Vold said. “Some of my best days growing up were hanging with big Doug and little Doug playing tackle football.”
In school, Gamble got along with everyone, said Michael Vallee, a friend. He was his own person.
“He always had a zest for life,” Vallee said. “He wanted to be in the middle of the action.”
Gamble is survived by his son, Tyler; his parents, Doug and Shirley Gamble; his younger brother, Tyson; grandfather and grandmother Shorty and Zada Griffith; grandmother Dolly Gamble; aunts and uncles Lillie Sparks (Nana), Mike and Alva Harris, Molly and Jack Mondor, Jim and Sherry Kenealy, Dick Gamble; numerous cousins and special cousin, Kim Sparks.
He was preceded in death by his grandfather Doug Gamble; and uncles John Jones and Mick Sparks.
Back in the “Kung Fu” days on television, the boy on TV was called Grasshopper. Gamble’s father, who often coached his youth teams, called his son “Weedhopper.”
“Hop” stuck as a nickname for life.
On kid teams with the Everett Boys and Girls Club, Gamble batted 1,000 and was on basketball teams that went undefeated for years.
Marcus Irwin said there were slumber parties at the Gamble house. One night they decided to play a board game, but preparation was needed.
“We were in his room and his table was too covered with trophies and ribbons, also on the windowsill, closet, dresser, etc., so he cleared them off onto the floor with one sweep of his arm like they were a nuisance cluttering everything up,” Irwin said.
When they practiced basketball or soccer and were huffing, puffing and sweating, Gamble would be giggling and bounding like a gazelle, Irwin recalled.
It was often inspiring, and sometimes a little maddening, he added. At summer camp on Whidbey Island, the fearless youngster posed a dare.
“We were maybe 12 years old and Doug talked me into trying to cross the Deception Pass bridge from the steel girders underneath. We got about half way before I made him come back. It’s a long way down. Boy, that was stupid.”
For many people, Gamble was the best all-around athlete they’ve ever seen, said Tina Malloy.
“I recall him always being organized, confident and precise when playing basketball or other sports,” Malloy said. “He played smart.”
Doug Gamble played basketball at Everett Community College before he did some traveling. On his union job, Gamble was morale booster, said co-worker Dick Haney.
“Doug was an easy going guy who everyone liked,” Haney said. “He was the kind of man I could trust getting a project done.”
In high school, the gang went to the dollar theater in Lynnwood. Gamble was detoured at the minibasketball game in the lobby, where good play earned extra credits. The others went in to see the movie without him.
“We came out after two and a half hours and of course he was still there,” Irwin said.
They asked their friend: “How much money have you dumped into that thing?”
Just a quarter, he answered.
Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451 or oharran@heraldnet.com.
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