Gabriel "Gabe" Stephen Focaracci

Rochelle and Louis Focaracci, with deep sorrow, announce the passing of their beloved son, Gabriel “Gabe” Focaracci. His life was cut short unexpectedly at the young age of 20 in a tragic hiking accident in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Asheville, North Carolina. Though they are devastated, his family hopes that the details of his death will not overshadow the beautiful, fulfilling, and bright life he lived. A Funeral Mass will be held for the repose of Gabe at 10am on Saturday, September 17th, 2022, at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Dallas, GA with Father Adrian Pleus officiating. The Rosary will be prayed prior to Mass by family and friends at 9:30am. After Mass Gabe will be laid to rest at the Kennesaw Memorial Park Cemetery in the Sacred Heart of Jesus Garden in Marietta, GA. Gabe lived the first 19 years of his life in the Marietta, Georgia area. Gabe was very active and devoted to his Catholic faith and spent time volunteering for different Christian activities and assisting in youth functions. He was very bright and full of energy. He excelled in school for most of his life, working hard at his education and taking some of the most difficult courses. He started his preschool years at FUMC Weekday Ministry Preschool where later, during his teenage years, he worked as an assistant teacher for the Summer Camp program for three consecutive summers. He attended elementary and middle school at St. Joseph Catholic School along with his closest and best friend Madelyn Focaracci, his sister. At St. Joseph, Gabe’s Catholic faith grew and continued to strengthen as he and his family moved their home parish to St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church where he served as an altar boy up until 2020 when COVID hit and shut down the churches nationwide. Gabe graduated from Kennesaw Mountain High School and attended Kennesaw State University until his move to North Carolina during the last year of his life. In high school, he was acknowledged by several teachers in multiple AP computer classes as having outstanding and creative projects. While in high school during his summers off, Gabe enrolled in a Catholic summer camp called Camp Maccabee in Missouri which further cultivated his relationship with God and deep Catholic faith. He attended Camp Maccabee for 3 summers and in the summer of 2020 worked as an assistant camp counselor. Gabe’s last year of life was in Asheville, North Carolina where he worked at a landscaping company. Gabe enjoyed physical labor and he worked hard, making sure he always did a good job. While in Asheville, he matured into a young man, completely living on his own financially and sharing a house with other male friends. Gabe was diagnosed with high functioning autism at age of 18. He was very sweet, compassionate, and sensitive. He worked hard at everything and always wanted to please others even as he was hard on himself. He felt most at home with family, animals, music, and nature. His personality was unique and appealing in many ways and he had a great sense of humor. He was incredibly talented on many fronts. Gabe was a fantastic artist and loved to draw and paint. He was multi-talented with several different musical instruments: guitar, piano, drums, and harmonica. He was a proficient story writer even from a young age and this developed into him becoming a creative song writer. One heartfelt song was about his childhood pet dog, Abby, who died several years ago. When he was not spending time creating his own music, he would go to concerts with his family and friends. Given time to develop his musical passion, who knows where it might have gone. Maybe it would have stayed his personal joy or maybe it would have become a means of financial support. Gabe was naturally athletic, coordinated, and agile. He was an adept skateboarder and enjoyed it immensely. He easily learned how to snow board while living in Asheville, North Carolina. Gabe loved nature, camping, fishing, swimming, and hiking. He learned these as a young boy doing some of these things with his father and continued these activities in North Carolina. He loved exploring the mountainous national parks in North Carolina, hiking there often as it was very close to his new home in Asheville. Gardening was a spring activity he enjoyed doing with his mother: planting vegetables, flowers, and herbs in the backyard of their home. He was especially drawn to the strong smells of rosemary, spearmint, lemon balm and parsley. Gabe’s tender soul gravitated towards animals. He loved the comfort, the peace, and the love they brought to him. No pressures, no demands, just joy. COVID lockdown separated Gabe from Church, that active interaction and worship of God, and from human interaction creating an isolation that is not healthy for anyone. And so, his new yellow Labrador retriever puppy Heidi filled some of those voids. He absolutely adored that dog, and that dog was crazy for him, absolutely losing her mind when she saw him. Gabe was a soft spoken, gentle soul but enjoyed laughing and had a very funny and dry sense of humor. He was a loving son, brother, grandson, nephew, cousin, and friend. His gentle loving nature will be forever missed by all of his family and friends. Gabe is survived by his parents, Rochelle and Louis Focaracci, sister, Madelyn Focaracci, grandmothers, Velia Focaracci and Linann Stephen, and by his many cousins, aunts, and uncles. Gabe was predeceased by his grandfathers Phillip Focaracci and William A. Stephen.

Gabriel "Gabe" Stephen Focaracci

November 29, 2001 - August 8, 2022