LESTER GAMBLE SR. / 1917-2005

Food broker, war
hero popularized
Spam in Hawaii

Lester Gamble Sr.: The World War II veteran saw Spam as an ideal lunch for field workers

Lester Gamble Sr., credited with popularizing Spam luncheon meat in Hawaii following World War II, died Jan. 12 in Kona Community Hospital. He was 87.

Born in South Dakota in 1917 and raised in California, Gamble married Alice Ackerman of Honolulu in 1944 while serving in the Navy. In 1948 he founded L.H. Gamble Co., which became a major food brokerage.

The company represented Hormel Foods, the makers of Spam, said Gamble's son Hoagy. Gamble promoted the luncheon meat so that it became a mainstay of popular local meals.

Created in 1937, Spam was adopted by U.S. military forces during World War II because it did not need refrigeration. Soldiers from Hawaii especially liked it and began looking for it when they returned home, Hoagy Gamble said.

Because it did not need refrigeration, it became an ideal lunch meat for plantation workers, he said.

Hoagy Gamble remembers his father, along with representatives from companies like General Mills and Carnation, dressing up like clowns to promote their products.

Spam initially was eaten in fried rice or in a dish of Spam, rice and eggs, Hoagy Gamble said. Spam musubi became popular in the 1980s, shortly before Lester Gamble retired from his company in 1988.

Gamble attended the University of California at Berkeley before joining the Navy just before World War II. He commanded a PT boat in 1941-43 and was recognized for his heroic actions at Guadalcanal with the Navy Cross, the Silver Star and a Presidential Citation. In 2003 he was inducted into the Gallery of Heroes at the U.S. Army Museum at Fort DeRussy.

His business career included serving on the board of Queen's Hospital for 31 years and on the Queen's Hospital Foundation for five years. He chaired the Waikiki Aquarium in 1986.

On retirement, Gamble moved to Kona, where his wife was born, and became active with Kona Hospice and the environmental group Tropical Reforestation and Ecosystem Education.

Gamble is survived by wife Alice, daughter Carolee Krieger, sons Lester Jr. (Hoagy) and Mark, seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Services will be held at 3 p.m. Feb. 4 at Christ Church Episcopal in Kealakekua.