Gabrielle Cashen Pelczynski's Obituary
PELCZYNSKI, Gabrielle Cashen
It is with great sadness that the family of Gabrielle Cashen Pelczynski announces her passing on May 6, 2017, at the age of 78 years, after a nearly year-long illness of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Whether you knew her as Gabrielle, Gale, GalyBird, Mom or Mrs. P., you knew an amazing wife, mother, sister and best friend. Gabrielle was a kindred spirit – someone who saw life as an adventure, because she knew that no matter where she was, each-and-every moment presented opportunities to connect with family and friends – both old and new. Her gift for gab and whimsy – her ability to turn strangers into friends and maintain decades-old relationships over time and space - was truly inspiring. She welcomed people’s life stories – and in the process, nurtured connections like no other.
With her husband of 52 years, Casper Joseph Pelczynski, Gabrielle had the opportunity to leave her birth home of Baltimore, MD to travel the world, living in many countries (Japan, Ivory Coast, Lebanon, Panama, Germany, and Greece). Over the years, they welcomed 5 children Mary Catherine (Michael) Williams, Anthony (Melissa), Thomas (Diane), Dennis (Susan), and Ann Marie (Takashi) Yoshida who brought love and joy to her life along with nine grandchildren, Nathan, Connor (Shellie), Benton, Maura, Mary Clare, Jarad, Ryan, Kai and Isami.
Maintaining a military-foreign service lifestyle, Gabrielle’s primary focus was always family and home – for which she was a master at instilling stability through so much transition. In addition, she also worked at a variety of other jobs including waitress at Pizza Hut, concierge at Fair Oaks Mall and as an administrative support specialist at S.A.I.C. – all jobs she loved because of the changing dynamics, challenges and personal contact each brought daily.
In time, Gabrielle became a life-time member of several groups including the Chantilly area Red Hat Society and T.O.P.S. Later, in her new home at Ashby Ponds, Gabrielle joined new groups including the Book Club, the Drama Club and more. While her days of living abroad were behind her, her days of laughter and travel were not. With her many friends and family, Gabrielle continued to set out on trips to see her children, as well as the west coast, the Caribbean, Canada and the north east. Though a self-deprecating ‘poor student’ of math, Gabrielle loved these trips, not only because she had time to laugh with her companions, but because she also loved history – filling her book shelves and Netflix queues with historic novels, biographies and dramas. The trips that included local history were always her favorite, and she would regale all who would listen with stories retold– often several times over – with accompanying photos, references, and mementos.
Finally, we come to Gabrielle’s love of cats. She had a few pets over her lifetime, including Happiness the German Shepard in Panama, Sue Sue – our sweet, ugly, hairless poodle, adopted in Lebanon, and dozens of the kid’s pet mice, rats, gerbils, hamsters, rabbits, fish, snakes and more. There was the ‘grand kitty’ Sasha and even a “great-grand kitty” – Pistachio (eeyoo). But none held her heart quite as much as her Bootles and Sweet Magoo – two sister rescues she gave a home to and the freedom to dominate it at their will. Our memories of Gabrielle are rarely divorced from her cats, whose memories are kept in the cat themed cards, calendars, and more collected. And in her voice mail sign off…if you have ever called her and left her a message then you know….the sweet rhythm of her tone-deaf sign off – “Too-da-loo-Magoo”. And with that, we say goodbye to an amazing, special person we are so blessed to have the honor to know.
Gabrielle will be fondly remembered by her family, including her twin brother, Anthony (Marilyn) Cashen, and her sister Elizabeth Mary (Edward) Arthur. Gabrielle was predeceased by her husband Casper Pelczysnki, her brother Richard Cashen, and her sister Mable Virginia Cashen.
A Liturgy Service for Gabrielle will be held on Wednesday, May 17at 2:30PM at St. John the Apostle Catholic Church, Leesburg, VA. Interment of cremains will follow.
Memorial donations in Gale’s name should be made to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society via Susan Pelczynski’s “Gale’s Team” page (http://www.mwoy.org/pages/nc/clt17/spelczynsk) or mailed to LLS, PO Box 4072, Pittsfield, MA 01202.
What’s your fondest memory of Gabrielle?
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Describe a day with Gabrielle you’ll never forget.
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