Nathan Joseph Gambucci

June 24, 2005 - June 21, 2026

Nathan Joseph Gambucci, age 20, of Woodbury, Minnesota, died by suicide on June 21, 2026, 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, silly, always-grinning boy who adored his family and his (family) cat, Parker. He loved being read to, watching PBS Kids with Sophia, dressing up in character-costumes with Sophia, making blanket forts, and burrowing into any other cozy, hidden spaces. He also loved to play outside, loved to dig (in a sandbox or at our local beach), loved to be thrown high up into the air and caught, loved to take swimming lessons and go to swimming pools (he swam like a fish!), and he loved to play at the neighborhood park-ordering pretend-food from Sophia through the park's whisper-phones and endlessly sliding down slides.

Similarly in winter, he loved sledding down his backyard in Inver Grove Heights (or sledding down his front yard, once his family moved to St. Paul). In winter, Nathan loved helping Sophia build snow forts, and loved building snowmen. In springtime, Nathan loved hunting Easter eggs and splashing through puddles.

Nathan especially loved summer, when he splashed endlessly with Sophia in our backyard baby-pool, hunted for tiny frogs, picked and ate cherry tomatoes from the garden, searched for mushrooms in the neighbor's woods, and rode bike with mom and Sophia to pick raspberries and blackberries at "the loop." Nathan especially loved his summer-birthday and the joyous family birthday celebrations which either happened at home, in nearby Northfield, or sometimes even in Kansas, while visiting Grammy (Darlene), aunt Sara and her chickens, and his slew of second-cousins. He adored Grammy's special, homemade, 3-D birthday cakes (firetruck, cottage, even a space shuttle)!

In fall, Nathan loved apple-picking, making and eating caramel apples, going on hay-rides, jumping in piles of raked leaves, choosing a family halloween pumpkin, and of course trick-or-treating with Sophia and other neighborhood friends.

He spent loads of time with his Grandma Jane both at home and at her house in Northfield, being read to and devouring her banana bread, brownies, and Rice Krispy treats. He regularly visited her 4th grade classroom, where her students delighted in reading to him. Along with Grandma Jane, he spent most holidays and significant time throughout his whole life and with his cousins Andrew and Emily, and his Uncle Mark and Aunt Robyn, in nearby Farmington.

In first grade, he moved with his family from suburban Inver Grove Heights to the city of St. Paul, where he grew up. From 2011 to 2014, 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 gained a new cousin, Alahna, whom he also visited when traveling to Kansas. He collected and traded Pokemon, began playing Minecraft (something enjoyed playing his whole life), built Legos and geocached with his dad, and played kickball, beach ball volley ball, and read nightly with his mom. Nathan especially loved reading deep, coming-of-age books by Minnesota's North Woods author, Gary Paulson (of "Hatchet" fame).

From 4th grade through 12th grade, Nathan shifted to attending nearby Roseville schools: Brimhall Elementary, then Roseville Middle School, and Roseville High School where he graduated in 2023. In 4th grade, Nathan chose the violin to learn with his Brimhall Elementary school orchestra program, while begrudgingly also taking private Suzuki violin lessons with his mom. Like his older sister Sophia on the cello, Nathan was extremely gifted at playing simple solo songs by himself-in tune-on his violin. While at Brimhall, Nathan also played intramural soccer and basketball. His world changed a lot when his parents divorced in 2016. This shift was unfortunately followed by years of increased tension and complication in his family life, including parents moving homes several more times.

Nathan made a good friend at Brimhall, later played a year of intramural tennis in middle school, yet became more of a homebody, who preferred reading at home and video gaming by himself or online with his friends. Pandemic lock-down during his 9th grade year, and the following year/s of increased social isolation were hard on him, as for so many youth. Even though he got outside support, his interest in school and study skills took a huge hit. His saving grace during the pandemic itself was getting to do school half-time with his beloved cat Parker curled at his feet, and then once in-person school re-opened, taking cooking classes, computer/business classes, and two Century College PSEO classes his senior year.

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 he was mostly taking general education courses while exploring his interests and imagining the future he was so eager to build.

Midway through his first semester at college, his cat Parker died, and Nathan struggled even more with depression. His mom soon adopted a new family cat, Milo-whom Nathan loved immensely and spent time with when he could-but Nathan's depression increased and his interest in school decreased. In spite of this all, according to his college roommate, Cleary, "one of Nathan's best qualities is that he 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%."

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 increased chronic health problems and disability needs.

During the following year and a half, Nathan developed an even closer relationship with Sophia, and they loved talking about spirituality, social movements, and life together. They also regularly watched fascinating TV shows, movies, and TV series together-their favorite being those on the innovative Dropout comedy streaming service. Nathan loved comedy.

Nathan kept teaching himself too cook, too. He regularly cooked a mean pasta carbonara for himself and Sophia. But his specialty was his near-perfect skill in making herb-butter-infused, rib-eye steaks.

Nathan continued to hang out and spend time online with his core group of friends from Roseville. He gamed regularly with Cleary and Johannes and gathered for birthdays, and saw movies and hung out regularly with Velvet. 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, and on vacations, even attending car shows and races occasionally, with Cleary, the same friend whom Nathan also planned to buy a house with, while they got their careers started.

An entrepreneur at heart, Nathan loved to research technology for himself and others, and dreamt big about what lay ahead. Nathan began teaching himself to code, and completed two online software certifications from home. He used those skills to begin developing his own app called, "Consistify," to help offer structure and motivation to others with ADHD.

Nathan was a lifelong lover of "wildlife, sea animals, and pets," said Velvet-especially cats. Nathan had a deep case of wanderlust, having already traveled to 21 states and 8 countries with his dad, and held a running list of all the places he still hoped to still see.

Nathan was also an artistic and skillful nature photographer, and regularly took and posted breathtaking photos of the landscapes around him, especially of the North Shore. He returned to Duluth multiple times with his Gambucci cousins, sister, and family, and cultivated all kinds of inside jokes and hilarious rituals with them.

In spite of all this, Nathan's physical health and increasingly complex mental health troubles were sources of enormous, private pain.

Nathan died by suicide, of gunshot wounds, in his home on the night of Sunday, June 21. His loved ones were stunned. He will be missed tremendously, even as those close to him are grateful he's no longer suffering from 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 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).

A funeral for Nathan will be held on Tuesday afternoon, August 11, 2026, at Bradshaw Funeral Home’s South Minneapolis location: 3131 Minnehaha Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55406. All family and community members who wish to honor Nathan and grieve with us are invited. There will be a 1pm visitation hour, a 2pm funeral, and 3pm luncheon. 

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