John William Gamba Jr.

John William Gamba, Jr. Born September 1, 1929 in Brooklyn, New York to John and Rose Gamba. He died on May 4, 2015 in his home in Orlando, Florida. John was a bit of a trickster as a kid with friends and family. Lots of practical jokes, told all kinds of stories about how he would try to get out of school early, etc., but he was a good boy and he loved his mother to no end, especially her green sauce (which after years we figured out was pesto). John went into the army for a year in 1948 and was honorably discharged in 1949 for medical reasons, which is great otherwise he would have been sent to the Korean war and might not have lived a long life and brought joy and humor to his family and so many others. John served in the army reserves for six years following. John met his wife Josephine after the army and it sounded like love at first sight according to their stories. They wed in 1953 and started having groovy kids a few years later. Rosie, Richie and Mary Lou and then Richie had a kid, John’s granddaughter, Jennifer. After they married they lived in Brooklyn, NY than moved to Englishtown, NJ, then in 1971 they moved the family down to Sunrise, FL to be in warmer weather. John loved to laugh and loved to make people laugh and have fun. There were not many moments in John’s life when he wasn’t joking around and trying to entertain folks, which he was great at. Everyone loved John and this is what he was most known for. John also loved sports and was basically Jack LaLanes doppelganger well into his 70’s. Fitness was important to him and he took good care of himself throughout the years by biking, playing golf, race walking, swimming, softball and running from his wife Josephine because he was such a menace. He loved his kids and took good care of them and kept them safe and provided for them. John loved to play the lottery and created his own numbering system to keep his mind sharp and track the numbers. He was great at math. He also loved to play games with the family and would always stray from the rules and make up his own more fun and interesting versions. He was a printer by trade and loved it and he was good at it. He had a very strong work ethic. After he retired he worked at golf courses and played lots of golf and bingo and he and his wife went to the Italian American club a lot to see shows. He/they loved going out and having a ball. They threw great parties and were the life of their parties, or any parties.