Kaity Gabriel

Kaity Gabriel, 87, passed away peacefully on October 17, 2023 at Saint Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport, CT, with her loving family by her side. Kaity was born on February 3, 1936 in Parakila, Lesvos, Greece to the late Eftihia Karoulias and Yioryos (George) Kyrikas, and was the wife of Demetrios Gabriel.

Kaity immigrated to Danbury, CT USA in 1969 as a newlywed at the age of 33. She chose to center her life on making her new house a home for her current and growing family. Kaity was born into a family of five siblings. They each had their roles and responsibilities. Kaity was the youngest of five siblings, and she learned the most intricate of things as a lady, such as cooking, cross-stitch, knitting and many other hobbies. She also learned how to care for the family’s olive groves. She would travel two hours by foot to care for the groves and two hours to come back. One fact is that she was scared of snakes, but she was prepared for those incidents. Miraculously, she never encountered one single snake. Kaity continued with these hobbies when she came to the United States.

Kaity’s pride was her family! She cared for her immediate family and friends with the utmost respect. As mentioned before, she loved to cook, cook, and cook! When she hosted events, she did not believe in precooking and freezing. She would start one to two days earlier to have the events with the freshest of foods, as she did not like to cook and freeze. She loved to garden, both vegetables and flowers! She was an excellent cook with both cooking Greek-style and baking. When festival time came for Assumption Greek Orthodox Church and she brought her pastries, some parishioners would buy them right away before the festival started. Her father-in-law (Aristides Gabriel) had told her that his wife’s cooking and others’ cooking in the family was wonderful, but he told Kaity that hers was "Eiperohou” (out of this world)! Her other interests were shopping, reading the Greek Herald daily, playing slots at the casino, scratching lottery tickets and going out to lunch with her friends.

Kaity was a very generous person! She would give people the shirt off of her back, and she was generous with her words & giving. Every time she would see a child, family or friends, she would always gift something! Both Kaity and her husband Demetrios were always sharing their bountiful harvests with family and friends. Their doors were always open! Kaity’s greatest joy was her family, especially her granddaughters, whom she adored more than life herself. There is nothing she wouldn’t do for them. When they were visiting, she would cook anything they wished for! Their favorites were always Avgolemono (the infamous Greek Lemon-Egg soup), her fried chicken (secret recipe) & her homemade fries! The respect she had for family and community was amazing, and she was very well-loved in return.

Kaity is survived by her daughter Angela Gabriel Belales and son-in-law Theodore Belales of Southington, CT; her granddaughters Katerina Belales of Southington, CT and Nicoletta Belales of Greenville, SC; her nephews Yiannis and Yiorgos Agritelli & their respective families; her niece Aspasia Pasadellis and nephew-in-law Antoni Pasadellis & their respective families; her niece Maria Kyrika and her respective family, her niece Eftihia and nephew-in-law Demetrios Sahlos &their respective families; and her nephew Stelios Seretis and niece-in-law Voula Seretis & their respective families. All of the aforementioned are from Lesvos and Athens, Greece. She is also survived by her nephew Michael Caravakis and his wife Marlene Caravakis of Danbury, CT; her grand-niece Alyssa Caravakis and husband Josh Critelli with their respective family; and her grand niece Adriana Caravakis Matos and husband Jonathon Matos & their respective families, all also from Danbury, CT. Thirdly, she is also survived by grandnieces, nephews and cousins from Greece and the United States.

Kaity was predeceased by her husband Demetrios Gabriel; her parents Yiorgios and Eftihia Kyrikas; her sister Chrisothemi and brother-in-law Savas Agritelli; her sister Ameriso and brother-in-law Mihalis Pasadellis; her brother Haralambos and sister-law-law Rodopi Kyrikas: sister Evangelia and brother-in-law Kostas Seretis; and brother-in-law and sister in law (respectively) Peter and Aspasia Gabriel.

A visitation will be held Wednesday, October 25, 2023 at Assumption Greek Orthodox Church (30 Clapboard Ridge Road, Danbury, CT) from 10:00 a.m. with the funeral service to begin at 11:00 a.m. Burial will follow at Wooster Cemetery in Danbury, CT. Seeing that Kaity loved flowers, they are more than welcome and can be sent to Assumption Greek Orthodox on Wednesday morning. Donations can also be made to the Assumption Greek Orthodox Church in lieu of flowers.

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