Jerry Gamble stands among over 2500 teddy bears his late wife, Jean Gamble,… (Taimy Alvarez, Sun Sentinel )
Delray Beach — Jerry Gamble is trying to find homes for more than 2,500 rescued bears.
That's bears of the cuddly kind — from Pooh to Paddington.
Gamble's late wife, Jean Gamble, was a sucker for homeless teddy bears. Over more than 12 years of picking up unwanted stuffed bears at garage sales and flea markets, she amassed more than 3,000 of the cuddly critters.
"She would rescue the bears," Gamble, 80, said. "She used to buy a hell of a lot of bears. We would come home sometimes with 50 bears in the car."
Jean Gamble died in early February at age 78. She left behind a collection that her husband and children are trying to put their arms around.
In the past, she often gave the stuffed bears away to local charities that benefited children, to nursing homes and hospices. Her family wants to continue that legacy. But so far, it's been a little slow going.
"I have given away 500, which is an immense number by itself," said her son, Jeffrey Gamble. "It barely made a dent."
The bears are packed into a room that used to be Jerry Gamble's office, which before that was a two-car garage. They line the walls, filling shelves and cabinets. They are stacked upon each other in a great pile on the floor. They long ago covered up the platform Jerry Gamble made for his wife's bears when she only had 100.
There are panda bears, polar bears, Christmas bears, koala bears, sporty bears, Gund and Steiff bears.
Jean Gamble was a Florida Marlins fan. So there are a few decked out in the old Marlins uniforms.
Still, you would be hard-pressed to find two or three exactly alike, said Jerry Gamble.
His wife's collection began with simple compassion. At a garage sale one day, she saw some teddy bears that no one wanted. They were going to be thrown away. She felt sorry for the little bears. So she bought them for 25 cents each.
Jean Gamble's mission was born — to buy up homeless stuffed bears and give them a home. Every weekend, Jerry and Jean Gamble would go to garage sales and buy up any teddy bear they could find.
She didn't look for a particular kind or make, said her daughter, Jessica Gamble. No matter their shape or size, Jean Gamble took them in.
"She felt they needed a home," Jessica Gamble said.
And she fixed up the bears, too, removing stains, sewing up holes, fixing the battery-operated ones.
The most she ever paid for a bear was $10, Jerry Gamble said. And she found a few that were vintage collectibles.
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