Nathan Joseph Gambucci

June 24, 2005 – June 21, 2026

Nathan Joseph Gambucci, 20, of Woodbury, Minnesota, died by suicide on June 21, 2026, just three days before his 21st birthday. He was born June 24, 2005, to Anna Gambucci and James Gambucci, of Inver Grove Heights, MN, and was the beloved younger brother of Sophia Gambucci.

As a young child, Nathan was an exuberant, energetic, kind, funny, happy boy who adored his family and his (family) cat, Parker. He loved to play outside, swim, read, ride bike, watch PBS Kids, listen to music/sing/explore at home and at ECFE and in many community ed children’s classes. He loved to climb, drive his firetruck, swing, make blanket forts, dress up, burrow into small spaces (including snow forts he and Sophia built), hunt Easter eggs, and pick cherry tomatoes in his garden. He spent lots of time with his Grandma Jane in nearby Northfield—sometimes even visiting her 4th graders there who loved reading to him. He also spent lots of time with his uncle Mark, aunt Robyn, and cousins Andrew and Emily in Farmington.

He adored celebrating his summer birthday—sometimes even in Kansas while visiting his Grammy Darlene, aunt Sara (and her chickens!), and much extended family there. He loved attending preschool and kindergarten in Eagan, sledding in the backyard, exploring for mushrooms in the neighbor’s woods, biking to pick raspberries and blackberries in “the loop” and playing at his neighborhood park, where he played chase and ordered loads of pretend food over the whisper-phones with Sophia. And that boy swam like a fish.

In first grade, he moved with his family from suburban Inver Grove Heights to the city of St. Paul, where he grew up. From 2012 to 2016, Nathan attended St. Anthony Park Elementary School, where he walked to school and back with neighbors daily, and played endlessly in Langford Park with friends after school (eventually becoming a kickball pro). He played tennis every summer at College Park. He collected Pokemon, began playing Minecraft (something he continued his whole life), built Legos and geocached with his dad, and played kickball, beach ball volley ball, and read nightly all kinds of chapter books with his mom: especially Gary Paulson books—dozens of them (“Hatchet”, etc).

Nathan reluctantly sang in his mom’s children’s choirs at Faith Mennonite Church, where the family attended for a number of years, and one year was lucky and excited to play the role of Joseph—his middle name namesake—in the Christmas pageant. Of course he endlessly played with his sister and with his cat, Parker. He was a winter lover, and built snow forts, snow people, and endlessly sled down his (sloped) front yard with Sophia and one holiday also with his cousin, Alahna, performing death-defying, sledding stunts in the “Laser Alpaca Club.”

From 4th grade through 12th grade, Nathan shifted to attending Roseville schools: Brimhall Elementary, then Roseville Middle School, and Roseville High School where he graduated in 2023. Early on, Nathan begrudgingly studied Suzuki violin and played in the Brimhall elementary orchestra, and was pretty fantastic (along his sister who took up the cello). Nathan played intramural basketball, then later, tennis. His parents ’ separation and divorce in 2016 led to a number of years of increased family complication, parents moving homes, and sustained tensions in family life.

He became more of a homebody, and preferred gaming regularly with his friends. He was known by his close circle of friends and wider classmates to be kind, loyal, generous, reserved, private, yet wickedly funny. Pandemic school lock-down during his 9th grade year and the consequent year/s of increased social isolation were hard on him, as for so many youth. His academic interest and investment took a huge hit. His saving grace was getting to do school half time with Parker curled at his feet, and then taking cooking classes, computer classes, and two Century College PSEO classes his senior year, when in-person school was back in session.

After high school, Nathan deepened and maintained friendships with Roseville high school friends (and his Gambucci cousins), while attending a year and a half of college at University of Minnesota Duluth—his father’s alma mater. He planned to major in Information Management Systems—though mostly he was completing general education courses while exploring his interests and imagining the future he was so eager to build. During his first semester at college, his cat Parker died, and that loss heightened Nathan’s depression. Even though his mom soon found a new family cat to adopt, whom Nathan loved immediately (Milo), Nathan’s continued to struggle. Yet according to his friends, “one of Nathan’s best qualities is that he always loved to help his friends with any problem. Whenever we asked him for the smallest bit of help he would do the most and give 100. "

An entrepreneur at heart, Nathan loved to research technology and dream big about what lay ahead. He was a lifelong lover of animals—especially cats—and had a deep case of wanderlust, having already traveled to 21 states and 8 countries, with a running list of all the places he still hoped to see. He loved to game, was beginning to teach himself to cook, and was always quick to help a friend or family member in need.

He withdrew from college at Thanksgiving of his Sophomore year, choosing to move home to his dad’s new house in Woodbury to help the family get settled while figuring out his own next steps. There he began providing regular care for his older sister Sophia, who was experiencing chronic health/disability needs; Nathan developed an even closer relationship with Sophia.

He continued gaming, seeing movies with, and hanging out with his core group of friends from Roseville, and also continued spending ample time with his sister, his cousins, Andrew and Emily, their dog, Bear, and the rest of his extended Gambucci family, as well as with his cat, Milo and his mom and dad. Nathan loved animals, wildlife, and sea life. He had entrepreneurial dreams, and eventually began studying and earning several online software certifications after college. Nathan was an artistic and skillful nature photographer, and regularly took breathtaking photos of the landscapes around him, and especially the North Shore.

He began developing and creating his own app, “Consistify,” to help others who struggled with ADHD. He developed a passion for supercars and luxury cars, test driving them on occasion, always scouting and spotting them on the road, in parking lots, on trips, even attending car shows and races occasionally, with one close friend, Cleary, whom he planned to buy a house with while they got their careers started.

Nathan died by suicide in his home on the night of Sunday, June 21. We miss him terribly, even as we are also grateful that he’s now free from his very private, unbearable pain.

Those who knew Nathan will remember him best for his warm smile, his great hugs, and his open-hearted willingness to help anyone who needed it. He met the world with curiosity and kindness, and he leaves behind a family and circle of friends who loved him deeply.

He was preceded in death by his grandfather, Joseph Gambucci (Jr.); his great-grandmother, Elsie Klassen; his great-grandfather, Joseph Gambucci (Sr.); his great-grandmother, Della Lundquist; his step-grandfather, Gene Henning; his great-aunt, Judy Lehnen; and beloved family cat, Parker.

He leaves behind many friends and family members devastated by his death. His closest friends whom we hold up with the most care are Velvet Yang, Cleary Anderson, and Johannes Dufault.

His living family members are his father, James Gambucci, (Woodbury); his mother, Anna (Dick) Gambucci (Minneapolis) and her partner, Michael Huyck; his sister, Sophia Gambucci, (Woodbury/Minneapolis); his grandmother, Jane Gambucci, (Northfield); his uncle and aunt, Mark and Robyn Gambucci along with cousins, Andrew Gambucci and Emily Gambucci (Farmington); his “Grammy,” Darlene Dick, (N. Newton, KS); his grandfather, Frederick Dick (Bloomington, IL); his aunt and step-uncle, Sara Dick and Eric Buller (N. Newton, KS); and cousin, Alahna Wheat (Wichita, KS).

Memorials are welcome in Nathan’s honor and may be directed to National Alliance on Mental Illness, and the Animal Humane Society.