Launce Edwin Gamble

1936 - 2025

Launce Edwin Gamble
04/11/1936 - 02/09/2025
On February 9, 2025, Launce Edwin Gamble of Napa, California passed away at his home in San Francisco from pneumonia. He would have been 89 years old on April 11th. Launce is survived by his wife Joan, sons Launce Gamble (Bella), Mark Gamble (Molly), daughter Sydney Gamble (Jeff), five grandchildren, a great-grandson, his brother George Gamble (Nancy) as well as his former sister-in-law Mary Ann McGuire, nephews Tom Gamble (Collette), Jim Gamble (Stephanie) and their three children and niece Aimee Price (Greg) and their four children.
Launce was born in 1936 in Palo Alto, California to Launcelot J. Gamble and Mary Eileen Sweeney. He grew up in Woodside, California where he rode his bicycle to Woodside Elementary School. He started secondary school at Cate School where he played on the baseball team and won the batting cup. Later he transferred, after a year of tutoring, as a sophomore to Choate School in Wallingford, Connecticut. After graduating, he returned to California to attend college at Stanford University. Two years later he and his brother transferred into and completed a farming economics program at U. C. Davis. Shortly thereafter, as their father's health was failing, they assumed management for the family ranches in Napa County, which later included managing the Knoxville Mine.
After marrying Joan Law in 1962, the young couple moved to San Francisco where Launce spent his professional life as an investor and established a family office. Equal to his love of ranches was his interest in investing in the stock market and following companies through economic cycles.
Launce was committed to his communities of San Francisco and Napa County. He served as a Trustee for his children's schools (Cathedral School and Santa Catalina), the Bancroft Library and supported Joan in her leadership services to local hospitals, museums and schools. His early support of the Ag. Preserve in Napa County contributed to the establishment of the first of its type zoning limitation that prioritizes agricultural land use over commercial development and that continues to this day.
One of his early joys was spending summers at Lake Tahoe with family friends who also spent summers at the lake. Launce loved the outdoors and spent a lifetime making memories fishing and hunting with his father, brother and family in the marshes, hills and rivers of the West. He and Joan had a lifetime of dogs and horses, and each brought great qualities into the home and barn.
Launce also loved his memberships – the Frontier Boys, the Bohemian Club, the Pacific Union Club and the Burlingame Country Club.
The Bohemian Club, especially Piedmont Camp, held a special place in his heart as it offered him a chance both to be mentored and to be a mentor.
The place where Launce relaxed was his home in Oakville, playing tennis and observing the latest practices of vineyard management in the valley. His love for our family was felt by all in how intensely he worked to mentor, educate and improve the lives of all around him, including his own.
In lieu of flowers please make donations to Napa Valley Community Foundation.