Felicia Gabriele died peacefully in Calvary Hospital on March 7, 2024, just a few months after having celebrated her 100th birthday with the family she loved so much. She was born into the Pulice family on August 3, 1923, in Calabria, Italy. When she was eight years old, she emigrated to America with her mother Maria, her older sister Emilia and her older brother Al. Her father (Francesco), whom she had not met until then, and another older brother Louie welcomed them, and they all moved to the Bronx. Felicia was the baby of the family and was coddled. For the rest of her life, she loved to recount stories of the many times her brothers would give her money so she could go to the movies, and of vacations when they took her to Atlantic City and Long Beach and other locales, and of how they always looked over her and protected her. She loved her siblings dearly all her life. Felicia was a vivacious person. She loved to dance. She made lots of friends, with many of whom she stayed close throughout her life. She attended Washington Irving High School in Manhattan, where she learned pattern-making---something she was very proud of.

In 1947, she married Florian Gabriele, a wonderful man who adored her, and they started a family. She had two children, Richard and Patricia. She made a happy home for them all. Felicia and her sister and their families lived in the same house for many years, as did their mother, and her brother Louis lived with his family around the block, and her other brother Al passed by every day, so there were always lots of kids, laughing and noise in the house on Colden Avenue. Most of all, Felicia loved children. Before she was married, she would babysit the children of her brother and sister. Then she was so happy when Richard and Charlotte got married and gave her two grandsons, Joe and Josh, whom she thoroughly enjoyed babysitting. In time, Joe married Meg and had two daughters---Gigi and Vivi. Josh then married Cait and had two children--Cammie and Shane. She loved smooching these great grandchildren and holding them on her lap. That was the best and most joyous thing in life for her. There was a time in her life when Felicia had some illness and was sickly. But she battled through it and eventually enjoyed relatively good health, due in large part to the amazing care and devotion that she received from her daughter Patricia. Felicia is survived by her son and daughter; her daughter-in-law; her two grandsons and their wives; her four great grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews and their offspring. She was a good person, and we will all miss her very much.

There will be a wake to celebrate her life and mourn her passing on Tuesday, March 12, 2024, between 4 pm and 8 pm at the Westchester Funeral Home, 190 Main Street, Eastchester, NY, and then at a funeral Mass at 10:30 am the following day at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, 8 Carman Road, Scarsdale NY. Anyone wishing to make a gift in her name, in lieu of flowers, may make a donation to Calvary Hospital. This facility gave Felicia wonderful care and support during the final four months of her life.

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