Patricia Monahan Gamble, age 77, from Belgrade, was finally released from her long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease on October 26, 2026.
Born on July 14, 1949, her childhood on a small cattle ranch in Washington State near the Canadian border with her father Monty, mother Florence, and brother Mike shaped her lifelong love of animals. Every animal, wild or domestic, was her friend.
Over the years, she had dogs, cats, horses, llamas, and even raised Zebra finches for a few years. She discovered that finches can be very prolific and she soon had more baby finches than she had friends to give them away to. She owned several horses that allowed her to compete in horse shows and trials. She particularly loved doing three-day eventing that involved dressage, cross-country jumping, and stadium jumping. She competed well and won many ribbons and awards, particularly riding her most favored horse, Teddy. Watching Patricia and Teddy together, it was clear that they loved one another and she was heartbroken when Teddy died.
Her family moved a couple of times after leaving their mountain ranch before settling in Pullman, Washington, where Patricia finished high school. She completed one year at Central Washington State University and worked for several years in Seattle, Washington and New York City. Returning to Pullman, she was employed by Washington State University and eventually became the Business and Finance Officer for the largest college at WSU. She worked at WSU for 23 years and became a trusted resource for many others at the university, including several Deans of her college. She authored a definitive history of her college before she retired in 1998. During her time at WSU, she divorced her first husband and married Geoff Gamble in 1984. In 1998 she went to Vermont where she joined Geoff, who, in 1997, had taken the position as Provost of the University. Three years later, they moved to Bozeman where Geoff had become Montana State University’s 11th President.
Patricia served as MSU’s First Lady until Geoff’s retirement in 1999. She was known for her kind and gentle personality, and she had a fondness for the staff at MSU. She had several horse injuries during the years from 1998 and 2005 and in 2005 she was diagnosed with cancer. After extensive surgery and a rigorous recovery regimen, she was cancer-free, but only to discover in 2008 that she had the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s Disease. Geoff and Patricia’s dear friend Marlene Abercrombie helped care for her until her needs became too difficult for home care. She entered a care facility in January of this year.
She is survived by her brother, Mike, and his wife Marie; her husband, Geoff; and stepdaughters, Jennifer and Lara; and their children, Tanner, Allegra and Jack. A Celebration of Life will be held next July for friends and family.
Despite her declining health and cognition, the professional staff at the facilities who cared for her so well, said that she maintained her kind and gentle nature until the very end.
Arrangements are in the care of Dokken-Nelson Funeral Service. www.dokkennelson.com
