Obituary: Lovencie “Vince” John Gambarella Jr.

Lovencie “Vince” John Gambarella Jr., 83, of Houma, La., the owner of G&B Marine Inc. and other businesses, died February 7.

He was a third-generation captain who quit school in the seventh grade to work as a deckhand on a sternwheeler on which his father was captain. He became a captain at 17 and at 21 went to work for Thomas Petroleum Transit, where he was put on a single-screw direct-reversible towboat named the Reba Jane.

He left the river in 1973 to become a ship pilot guiding ships into the Port of New Orleans, but before he finished training he and his best friend, Thaddeus Warren Boudreaux, founded G&B Marine with $5,000 they had saved.

 From 1973 to 1998 they grew it into an industry leader with 21 vessels and 300 employees. Gambarella bought out his partner in 1996 and ended up selling the company to R&B Falcon in 1998 for $40 million.

He enjoyed fishing, shrimping, going to the casino and going to eat out with his family and friends. He was a past member of the Krewe of Terreanians and served as king in 1988.