Joan Gamble

Joan Rose (Dvoracek) Gamble passed away peacefully on Saturday, June 7, 2025 at the age of 86, after a 22-month battle with cancer, in Carrollton.

Funeral Service will be held 10:30 a.m. Monday, June 16, 2025 at Aderhold Funeral Home in West, with Rev. Mary Alice Lyman officiating. Burial will immediately follow at the Gerald Cemetery in Elm Mott. The family will receive guests at 9:30 Monday morning until service time at the funeral home, and for lunch following the burial at the VFW Hall in West.

Joan was born on January 5, 1939, to Albin and Josephine (Vrba) Dvoracek in West, TX. She was the eldest of six children. Joan attended St. Mary's Catholic School through eighth grade and then West High School. She met her beloved husband of 69 years, Asa Gamble Jr. on a blind date to a West High School homecoming football game in 1954. They were married a year and half later on March 9, 1956. They resided in West until the birth of their first child, Annette, when they moved to Arlington. Asa and Joan had four more children, Charlotte, Richard, Patricia, and David, in Arlington, and in 1966 they moved to Richland Hills. Joan was a stay-at-home mother until her children were in junior high school. She was active in PTA and Beta Sigma Phi service sorority for many years. Joan enjoyed playing bridge, reading, gardening, and cooking for her family. After entering the workforce, she worked for several companies including Champion Auto Parts and First American Title Company. Joan and Asa remained in the Fort Worth area until they both retired and purchased land in Hubbard, to get back closer to their hometown. They worked to create a beautiful ranch in Hubbard where they loved to entertain and cook for family, neighbors, and friends. Joan became active in the VFW Post #4819 Auxiliary in West. They raised longhorn cattle on the ranch and were lifetime members of the Texas Longhorn Breeder Association, and members of the Texas & Southwest Cattle Raisers Association, the Ranching Heritage Association, the Texas Cowboy Association, and the National Cowboy Museum. Joan loved her longhorns, giving each one a name and sharing stories about them to their friends. She also loved her family and would proudly tell stories about her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren to anyone who would listen. Joan and Asa enjoyed listening to cowboy music and traveled across Texas and the surrounding states to hear some of their favorite cowboy artists, many of whom became great friends.

Joan is preceded in death by her parents; her son, David Gamble, and son-in-law, Russell Wells.

Joan is survived by her husband, Asa Gamble, Jr.; her children, Annette Wells, Charlotte Mitchell, Richard and Jacqueline Gamble, and Patricia and Robert Klein; seven grandchildren, Emily and Evan Steele, Evan and Jennasen Gamble, Angelique and Jeffrey Lawless, David and Jennifer Mitchell, Lauren and Aaron Acome, Travis and Sarah Klein, and Andrea Klein and Alejandro Rocha; nine great-grandchildren; her siblings, June and Bill Frawley, Carolyn Dalton, Barbara and Kelly Fowler, Jackie and Jack Kirkpatrick, and Albin and Marilyn Dvoracek Jr.; and numerous nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews.

The family wishes to express their gratitude to the caring doctors, nurses, and staff at UT Southwestern, Sammons Cancer Center, and Clements University Hospital.

Pallbearers are Evan Steele, David Mitchell, Jeff Lawless, Evan Gamble, Travis Klein, and Alejandro Rocha.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations in Joan's name to be made to the American Cancer Society or a charity of choice.