SHARE

Gertrude Ribakove Gabel, Former Pleasantville Resident, 97

PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. -- Gertrude Ribakove Gabel, a former longtime Pleasantville resident, died on Saturday, July 18, in El Cerrito, Calif. after a long illness. She was 97 years old.

Photo Credit: 2006 Photo by Johanna Rosen

The daughter of Samuel and Rachel Ribakove, she was born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y.

A graduate of Erasmus Hall High School and Brooklyn College (1938), she earned two masters of fine arts degrees (CCNY, Pratt Institute) and taught art for 25 years in New York City public schools, including Columbus High School in the Bronx.

From 1941 to 1976 she was married to Murry Gabel. In 1951, they moved their young family from Brooklyn to then-rural North Westchester to become charter members of Usonia Homes, a Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired cooperative community near Pleasantville. 

In 2006, after having lived in the New York Metro area for 89 years, she moved to an assisted living facility in Northern California to be near her three sons.

Survivors include her sons Jonathan (Ligaya Yadao), Oakland, Calif.; Michael (Irene Amy Scheinbaum), El Cerrito, Calif.; and Matthew (Jane), Oakland, Calif.; two grandchildren; and her sister, Florence Bar-Ilan, Rehovot, Israel.

She was predeceased by her brother, Lionel Ribakove and her daughter, Laura Gabel. 

Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. on Friday, July 24 at Plaza Jewish Community Chapel, 630 Amsterdam Ave. in Manhattan followed by burial at Beth David Cemetery, Elmont, N.Y.

to follow Daily Voice Pleasantville and receive free news updates.

SCROLL TO NEXT ARTICLE