Chief Gregory S. Gambrell

Chief Gregory S. Gambrell , 59, passed away on Sunday, July 16, 2017 at Agape Hospice in Columbia, S.C.  Funeral services will be held at 11:00 A.M. on Wednesday, July 19, 2017 at  North High School Auditorium in North, S.C.  Burial will follow at Riverside Cemetery in North, S.C.  Rev. Larry Davis, Rev. Gene Ball and Tony Dicks will be officiating.                            

Pallbearers will be Berry Gambrell, Walter Kinsey, Tony Dicks, Bud Thames, Christopher Livingston, Billy Robinson, Jimmy Jones and John Love.

Honorary Pallbearers will be the past and present members of the North Fire Department and the Fire Service of S.C.

Mr. Gambrell was born on December 16, 1957 in Columbia, S.C.  He was the son of the late Berry Humphrey Gambrell and the late Kathryn Livingston Gambrell. He was the Fire Chief of North Fire Department for 20 years.  Chief Gambrell was a member of the S.C. Firefighter’s Association, the S.C. Association of Fire Chiefs, the Orangeburg County Firefighter’s Association and he was an instructor with the S.C. Fire Academy.  He was also a member of Fellowship Baptist Church in North.  In, 1982 Gregory was awarded the Captain J.G. Inabinet, Jr. Award for being the City of Orangeburg’s Firefighter of the Year; in, 1997 he was recognized by the North Fire Department for his Leadership and Reconstruction.  He was also recognized in March 2017 by the Orangeburg County Fire District for 44 years of service and in June 2017 he was honored by the S.C. Association of Fire Chiefs with a Lifetime Membership and he was inducted into the S.C. Firefighter’s Hall of Fame.  He was predeceased by his parents; brother Berry L. Gambrell and a sister and brother-in-law Vicki and Aussie Witt.

Survivors include his wife of 35 years, Karen Dannelly Gambrell of the home; daughter, Haley C. Gambrell of Greenville; son, Berry C. (Katherine) Gambrell and “Gummy Bear” of Norway; a special son, Robert A. Decelles of Bolentown; a sister-in-law, Patsy Gambrell of Lexington and a number of nieces and nephews.

Friends may call at the residence of Berry and Katherine Gambrell in Norway.

Visitation will be held from 5:00-8:00 P.M. on Tuesday, July 18, 2017 at Thompson Funeral Home, Inc. in Orangeburg.

Memorials may be made to the North Fire Department c/o Trudy Robinson P.O. Box 1105 North, S.C. 29112 or to the Fellowship Baptist Church Music Fund c/o Doug Gooden at 250 Woodhaven Street, North, S.C. 29112.

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