Ann Gamble Blechta

1930 - 2020

Ann Gamble Blechta
Ann Gamble Blechta (90), of Osprey, FL, formerly of New Canaan, CT, died suddenly at Sarasota Memorial Hospital on April 7, 2020 of heart failure, not related to coronavirus.
Ann was preceded in death by her son Robert Gamble Jr. (1978), and her husbands Robert Gamble (1995) and George Blechta (2012), as well as her stepson George Blechta Jr. (2018).
She is survived by her daughters Daphne Macnaughton of Paris, France (husband Peter, grandchildren Christopher, Lindsay and Megan) and Christine Brooks of Flagstaff, AZ (husband Buddy, grandchildren Jake and Robert). She is also survived by her brother Frank Mountcastle Jr. (Deane) of Richmond, VA, and their children Frank Mountcastle III (Jill) and Anne Rusbuldt (Chris) and their families. Survivors also include her stepdaughters Merry Blechta of Keaau, HI, and Vicki Hosmer (Pete) and stepson Bill Blechta (Mary Ellen), both of Sarasota, FL, and their families.
Ann was born on January 18, 1930 in New York City to Frank and Florence Mountcastle of Elizabeth, NJ. She grew up there and graduated from Vail-Deane preparatory school and Sweet Briar College. In 1953, she married Bob Gamble of Elizabeth, and they made New Canaan, CT, their principal place of residence for 34 years. Bob's employment as a refinery specialist for California-Texas Oil took them on tours of duty in the UK, Lebanon and Spain. In retirement, they moved to Sarasota, FL in 1987, and built their home in The Oaks in 1990. Following Bob's death in 1995, Ann married George Blechta in 1999, and they found renewed happiness together in Sarasota until George's death in 2012.
A committed Christian, Ann was always active in community volunteering, and loved the people she met at the First Presbyterian Church in New Canaan and at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Darien, and in Sarasota at Siesta Key Chapel, The Founders Garden Club, Selby Gardens, the Ringling and Spanish Point Museums, Young Life and The Oaks.
Ann will be remembered for her complete devotion to her family, her boundless generosity, her concern for others, her creative spirit, and her love of flowers, butterflies and birds. Most of all, the many friends she made throughout her life will recall the way she lit up everything around her with her contagious smile.
The family wishes to thank Ann's caregivers for their warmth and loving commitment. Her ashes will be interred next to Bob's and Robert Jr's at the First Presbyterian Church in New Canaan, and a celebration of her life will be held at Siesta Key Chapel in Sarasota on a date yet to be determined. The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Siesta Key Chapel (siestakeychapel@comcast.net), Selby Gardens (development@selby.org) or Young Life Sarasota (www.sarasota.younglife.org).