Gary Webb Lamphere, MD
Exeter NH – It is with great sadness we announce that Gary Webb Lamphere, MD passed away from pancreatic cancer, June 16, 2021 at his home in Exeter, NH. He was born March 7,1945, the son of the late Hazel Webb Lamphere and William H Lamphere.
He grew up in Whitesboro, NY and graduated from Williams College in 1967 and the University of Rochester Medical School in 1971. He served the country in The US Public Health Service, then completed a Family Medicine residency at Duke University. He joined the Exeter Clinic in 1976 but quickly decided that Emergency Medicine was more his speed and worked in the ER at Exeter Hospital for 19 years. In later years, Gary elected to work at the Veteran’s Hospital in Manchester, NH, retiring in 2014.
Gary met Judy Worden in grade school, the two dated in college, and tied the knot in 1968. With each new phase of his medical training, they traveled to a new location and increased their family size by one on each stop of their journey before finally settling in Exeter in 1976.
A lover of all things with butter, Gary was a chef of decadence, enjoying eating and drinking as much as creating. If you were a fortunate participant of Judy and Gary’s dinner parties, you were likely treated to a delectable fish, tomatoes and basil from the garden, and lots of wine. He loved to engage anyone who would join in a conversation debating politics, science, all things theoretical and the Red Sox. Family stories that highlighted their goofy escapades were aplenty and always fun to recount.
Nothing made Gary smile more than to hike or bike with his dogs. He believed dogs were the happiest creatures on earth and admired their simple approach to life. He wasn’t a religious man, but he believed in the strength of community, volunteering for St. Vincent de Paul, Honor Flights for Veterans, a Christian Missionary group in Haiti, and on the Memorial Day Parade in Exeter. He was able to combine his work with his love of travel, spending several months in Australia and New Zealand doing emergency medicine.
When asked how he was, Gary answered with his trademark “Medium” and it’s how he lived his life. Some of his behaviors tended towards the frugal: he liked to drive his economy cars into the ground, frequented crappy hotels, and never upgraded the Laser sailboat he loved dearly. If you saw him biking around town or at Arjay’s, you witnessed the ratty old jeans, his favorite pink shirt, and his 20-year-old loafers. But he tempered that with occasional extravagances: traveling to far flung places and participating in any adventure offered. He was a founding member of The Bike Group, an adventurous band of couples who spent over three decades biking far and wide.
He is survived by his wife, Judy, children Jennifer Lamphere Roberts and spouse Kip Roberts of Montpelier, VT; Amy Lamphere Farnham of Exeter, NH, and Judson Lamphere of Brooklyn, NY. He also leaves his brothers Bill Lamphere of Monte Vista, CO, and Rick Lamphere of Norwood, CO., his grandchildren, Maxfield Farnham, Teddy Farnham and Indy Roberts. He also leaves his former sister in law, Mary Worden, nephews Bill Lamphere, and Mike Worden and niece, Karen Peters. He was predeceased by his brother in law Bob Worden.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to St Vincent de Paul Community Assistance in Exeter or Rockingham VNA & Hospice.