Harry "Woody" Sherwood Gamble

Harry  Sherwood Gamble, best known by “Woody”, passed away November 6th, 2020 at the age of 83. Woody was born on March 1, 1937 to Harry Paul Gamble and Roberta Eileen Reynolds. Woody graduated from Compton High School in 1954 and went on to to USC for 1 year before finishing his bachelors degree in education from San Jose State College in 1959 and completing his Masters Degree from Stanford in 1964. He began his teaching career in 1960 at Joaquin Miller Junior High School in Cupertino. Woody was a science teacher who greatly enjoyed his 33 years of educating the middle school students at Miller. He was known for his love of science, lively sense of humor and quick wit in the classroom.

Throughout his life, Woody enjoyed many passions and hobbies. He loved teaching his middle school students and sharing his knowledge with those around him. For several years, he and a few other teachers led the end of the year field trip, for the 8th grade graduates at Miller, to Washington D.C. He often recalled the memories of these years teaching with great enthusiasm. He was honored to receive the “Teacher of the Year” award in 1980-1981 from Cupertino Union School District.

Woody also enjoyed collecting N-Scale trains, building his train layout in his spare time and talking with other train enthusiasts. In the recent years, he began photographing his train layout in his home and was enjoying having articles published about his layout in N-Scale Magazine.

He loved the outdoors and especially our National Parks and sightseeing. He worked 9 summer seasons in the 1980”s as a park ranger and interpreter at Lava Beds National Park. Woody also led nighttime walks and slideshow presentations for the many visitors that came to the park every summer. He was also the “resident” photographer at Lava Beds, taking hundreds of photos over the years and developing them himself. Some of the photos were made into postcards that were sold in the visitor center.

Another hobby Woody liked to regularly participate in was bowling. He was part of a bowling league during the years he lived in Scotts Valley, CA and could be found weekly playing at the local bowling alley in Felton on Tuesday nights. After he moved to Klamath Falls, OR in 1999, he joined a new bowling league and continued playing weekly and in match club tournaments until just this past year.

Woody often made a lasting impression on those he met. You would likely walk away with some new knowledge after a conversation with him and a few laughs too!

Woody is survived by his wife Audrey Gamble of 26 years, his son Richard Gamble and daughter-in-law Rhonda Gamble, his son Darren Gamble and daughter-in-law Ashley Gamble, his daughter Amanda Gundersen and son-in-law Loren Gundersen, his stepchildren; Diane and John Lehman, Gerry and Kelley Rush, David and Marcy Rush and Heidi Rush, his younger brother David Gamble, sister-in-law Carleen Gamble and brother-in-law Chuck Coventon, as well as 16 grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. Woody is preceded in death by both his parents as well as his sister, Suzanne Gamble Coventon.

A celebration of Woody’s life will be planned at a later date and information regarding that will be shared with family and friends at that time.