Our beautiful mother, grandmother, aunt and friend has passed away. Marylin Monaco Gabriele, born in 1937 in Brooklyn, NY, left this world for the next just after sunrise on July 29, 2026, at the age of 89.
She is preceded in death by her loving parents, Francesco and Josephine Maltese Monaco, her brothers, Mario “Myron” and Rocco “Roy” Monaco, and her sister-in-law Anne Marie. She is survived by her children, Antonino Mark Gabriele, Franklin Matthew Gabriele (Rebecca), Sandra Christine Gabriele, and Mary Josephine Dinallo (Gerald), as well as her beloved grandchildren Melissa Gabriele, Leia Gabriele, Jack Aaron, Christian Dinallo, Justin Gabriele, Elena Dinallo, Sofia Dinallo, and her nieces and nephew Christina, Francis, and Catherine Monaco and their families.
Marylin graduated from Queens College in 1957 with a Bachelor of Arts in Education. She was married that July; the couple moved to Philadelphia and later Boston where she taught first grade and started her family. The next ten years brought three more children and a move to Westchester County which remained her home for the next 60 years.
She was a bright and colorful spirit, full of laughter, love, generosity, and, above all, music. There wasn't a moment or an event that she couldn't lift up with her extraordinary creativity. Whether she was baking a specialty birthday cake, writing short stories about her life, or reworking the lyrics to a song for a significant event in the life of a friend or family member, no ordinary moment existed once she added her flair. Her special and personal touches always helped a person to feel seen.
Mom was gifted and creative in many mediums, but her greatest passion was always musical theater. This she started in high school - and never stopped, continuing throughout her life, anywhere and everywhere a stage was available. She performed in countless shows in community theater and spent more than ten years working at the Westchester Broadway Theater in the box office, group sales and luxury boxes. Most recently, she joined the theater group in Heritage Hills where she shared her voice and talents and made great friends in the process.
Of all she accomplished in her long and wonderful life, nothing was as important as having family around her. She absolutely loved raising, nourishing, and spending time with her big, beautiful, diverse, loud Italian family that we all feel lucky to be part of. She brought that same inimitable creativity to loving us well, and her laughter resonated through all our gatherings.
Her services will be held as follows:
Visitation: Clark & Giordano Funeral Home
2104 Saw Mill River Rd., Yorktown Heights
Thursday, Aug. 6, 4 to 7 p.m.
Mass of Christian Burial: The Roman Catholic Church of Saint Joseph
95 Plum Brook Rd., Somers
Friday, Aug. 7, 10 a.m.
A private interment will take place at Our Lady, Queen of Peace at Gate of Heaven, Hawthorne.
If you prefer, in lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her name to Music at Asbury, the ongoing performance group Mom did so much with. The website, musicatasbury.com, has a donation page, and you can choose ‘Gifts in Memory of.’ Alternatively, checks can be made out to Music at Asbury and mailed to:
Asbury United Methodist Church
167 Scarsdale Rd., Tuckahoe, NY 10707
Attention: Mary Thombs, Music at Asbury.
Please include a note with Mom’s name.
