Our History
Ed Gamble began his career in funeral service during the 10th grade in high school in his hometown of Manning, South Carolina. He worked after school and on weekends for Ranny Stephens at Shelley-Brunson Funeral Home (now Stephens Funeral Home). From there he worked for Bill Shives at Talbert-Shives Funeral Home in Columbia. He left Columbia to attend Gupton-Jones College of Mortuary Science in Atlanta, Georgia. Ed returned to Shives Funeral Home after graduation in 1977. He later managed Parrott Funeral Home in Kinston, North Carolina, and The Howze Mortuary in Travelers Rest, South Carolina.
In 1995, he was hired by Carriage Services as General Manager of Sipple Mortuary. After Carriage closed Sipple Mortuary, knowing that Savannah needed an independent funeral home, Ed and his friend and mentor, Charlie Sipple, opened Gamble Funeral Service in the “old Sipple building” in October 2003. In November 2003, Ed purchased the former Eastern Heights Presbyterian Church building at 410 Stephenson Avenue. The original plan was to continue in the Sipple building until the 5400 square foot structure could be completely remodeled and a 3600+ square foot addition be completed. Just 4 weeks from opening on Stephenson Avenue, lightning struck the chapel portion of the building and, in less than an hour, it had burned to the ground. With no other alternative, Gamble Funeral Service was forced to close on September 20, 2004, temporarily.
With the hard work and dedication of his good friend and contractor, Mike Wakely and his MKW Construction Company crew began the rebuilding within days of the fire. Within five months, Gamble Funeral Service emerged for its re-grand opening on March 10, 2005.
The 9300+ square foot facility includes a 200+ seat chapel, spacious visitation rooms with privacy partitions, a lounge with a television for families and visitors, young and old, and a carport. Our chapel has a soundproof “crying room” with one-way glass to allow the young and old to see and hear a funeral service without disrupting the others in attendance. The visitation room’s privacy partition allows you to speak to family members while having a choice to view the body. The chapel pews, chandeliers, organ, and pulpit furniture in our building are from the Sipple building and were given to us by Charlie Sipple.
We welcome you to drop by and visit with our staff and see our facility.
