Memorial Service Date: Sunday, October 23, 2022
Memorial Service Time: 3:00 PM
Memorial Service Location: Postell’s Mortuary Chapel
811 North Powers Drive
Orlando, Florida
Obituary:
In the early morning hours of October 13, 2022, Osmond Gabay Sr. joined the ancestors just months away from his 101st birthday. He was truly one of the most interesting men in the world. Osmond was born on January 12, 1922 in St. Thomas, Jamaica, WI to the late Blanche and Elbert Black. Osmond was a citizen of three countries, Jamaica, where he was born; Liberia, where he worked for the world bank for 10 years; and the US, where he lived most of his life. His favorite sport was cricket. When we were growing up, he was a member of the West Indian American Cricket League. He played the position of “Bowler” for the team. We spent many Saturdays and Sundays watching him play cricket at Belle Isle Park in Detroit.
Osmond was a loving father and dedicated provider. If he didn’t have the money for one of our school trips when growing up, he would go out the night before and fix someone’s washer or dryer to earn enough money to pay for it. He never wanted us to miss an educational opportunity. In Jamaica, he loved to grow his own fruits and vegetables. He grew mangos, avocados, bananas, breadfruit, lemon, and ackee, used in Jamaica’s national breakfast dish, “ackee and salt fish”.
Gabay loved music, especially jazz. His favorite jazz singers were Billy Eckstine and Arthur Prysock. He also loved to listen to Mahalia Jackson. His favorite Mahalia Jackson song is “Just as I am,” which you’ll here today. Our father lived his life by the teaching and philosophy of Marcus Garvey and Kwame Nkrumah. He became a member of the Pan African Congress to honor those beliefs, which led to his move to Liberia in 1976. Gabay was a great conversationist and he loved to share stories about his travels with his family and friends.
Gabay was a mechanical genius. He could fix anything and build almost any machine. In fact, he built the machine that made the afro combs for Picel products in Idlewild, MI, in the 70s. Osmond was known by Doppsy as a young boy in Jamaica, O’Pa to some of his grandchildren, Gabby and Gabay by his immediate family and friends, and Chief to his employees during his time as a consulting engineer for the world bank in Liberia, West Africa. He lived a full and extraordinary life. We will sorely miss him and will cherish his memory along with the love and guidance he provided us over the years.
Gabay is survived by his children, Carlotta Gabay, Claudia (Timothy) Gabay-Jones, JoAnne Gabay, Jeanette Gabay, Osmond Gabay Jr., Joyce, Kwabena (Suzanne) Gabay, Reynold Gabay; brother, Danvier (June) Frances; 8 grandchildren; and a host other relatives and friends.
A memorial service will be held on Sunday, October 23, 2022, 3:00 PM at Postell’s Mortuary Chapel, Orlando.
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