A legacy of learning and care

John Gable, '91, and his family have been supporting nursing students at La Salle since 2021.

Growing up, John Gable, '91, knew how much his mother valued education for him and his two siblings.

After a delay of two decades spent raising that family, Kathleen Gable, B.S. '90, MSN '94, found the same desire for herself, leading her to spend the better part of 30 years at La Salle University, first as a student and then as an instructor.

So, when Kathleen passed away in 2020 and the family pondered how to make an impact in her name, there was no doubt that they would turn to La Salle.

"My mom loved La Salle," John said. "She would love to go down there just to be at a basketball game and be around the young kids and see people."

The result was the Kathleen T. Gable Memorial Scholarship, established in 2021 and benefitting students pursuing a career in nursing at La Salle like Kathleen did. For someone who followed an unorthodox path to the profession, the Gable family is helping fund others driven by the same passion.

Kathleen Gable graduated from high school in 1960, and then went straight into the workforce, as an executive secretary at Penn Fruit Corporation and Rohm and Haas Company. She exited the labor force in 1968 when she and husband Joe started a family in Northeast Philadelphia.

"She raised a family, did all the mom stuff," John said. "She was a stay-at-home mom for most of my childhood."

While raising her children, Kathleen began taking night classes at Community College of Philadelphia, receiving her associate's degree in 1984 and beginning her career in nursing. When John and his siblings were teenagers, they saw their mom drawn to a career in nursing. She began working at Graduate Hospital in Philadelphia and pursued advanced degrees at La Salle, while John was an undergrad. She went on to earn her bachelor's and master's degrees at La Salle and served as an adjunct professor there from 2003-17.

John graduated from La Salle in 1991 with a business degree and spent years in the corporate world in sales and finance. In 2006 he became the principal/owner of Northampton Nursery LLC, a landscape and hardscape firm. The company has evolved to now include Northampton Building Solutions, a home improvement contractor, and Heads Up Sprinklers, the irrigation division. In recent years he has been helping with efforts to beautify the La Salle campus. During that time, he has overseen the addition of the many plants and flowers that can be seen around the University. A particularly special part of this work for Gable was working on the design and installation of the landscape, hardscape (pavers, walls, benches), and lighting at the Tom Gola Plaza outside La Salle's John E. Glaser Arena.

Kathleen had a long career in health care, as a staff nurse, a clinical manager for cardiac rehab, and a case manager at several health systems in the region. She shared her experiences with La Salle students as a lecturer for 15 years.

When Kathleen died in 2020 at age 77, the family didn't have any concrete designs on memorializing her. Instead of just making a donation in her name, John, who has a history in sales, wondered if they could do something bigger.

"I said, before we do anything, let me make a phone call," he recalled. "Because if we're going to give something, I want it to have a lasting impact, and I think Mom would like the idea of it going to La Salle. And once I started talking to them about it, La Salle made it so easy to set the scholarship up."

The result is the scholarship fund, which gives $2,500 a year to a full-time undergraduate, upperclassmen nursing student. The Gable family has added to the initial seed donation, and John has helped others fundraise to sustain it for multiple years. They hope it can make a difference for students who share the dream Kathleen had.

By Matthew De George