(A celebration for the life of Gabe Falsetta will be held on Saturday, June 21; reception 2 pm, program 3 pm; at the Winston Unity Center, 235 W. 23rd Street, 7th Floor, New York City.)
Gabe Falsetta always greeted everyone warmly, making them feel right at home. And he always said goodbye with a confident, “Forward Together!”
That encapsulated Gabe’s life perfectly: a beautiful, kind human being, an unquenchable optimist, and a lifelong activist for social and environmental justice and peace.
Gabe died on March 14, 2025, at the age of 82, following a prolonged illness.
He was a gentle warrior, possessing boundless faith in the ability of ordinary people to achieve extraordinary things if they united and fought “together.” This belief strengthened his resolve to combat the rise of right-wing extremism and fascism and to fight for a socialist future, despite facing significant personal challenges.
Gabe was born in 1943 in New York City. His parents, Carmela and Alphonzo Falsetta, were immigrants from Saliano and Parenti, Calabria, Italy. His father eventually became a U.S. citizen, and his mother carried what was then called an “alien” registration card.
Gabe grew up in Ridgewood, Queens, a working-class community of Italian, German, and Irish immigrants bordering on Brooklyn.
He was the youngest of four children, with a brother, Lou, and sisters, Caroline and Rita. His parents primarily spoke Italian at home. When Gabe graduated from 8th grade, his mother penned a congratulation in Italian.
As a result, Gabe entered kindergarten and first grade with limited proficiency in English. One of Gabe’s elementary school teachers held biased views against immigrant children, believing that because they didn’t speak English well, they couldn’t learn. This humiliating experience caused young Gabe to skip school. He would come home and hide while his parents were both working. After this traumatic experience, the family decided to enroll Gabe in a Catholic school.
The experience left an indelible mark on him. He always felt a kinship with the plight of immigrant communities and had deep empathy for those suffering discrimination and oppression. He was also proud of his Italian heritage, visited his parents’ ancestral homes, and became active in the Vito Marcantonio Forum, named after the famous Italian-American progressive congressmember.
Like many hardworking children from working-class families, Gabe began working at a young age. He sold pretzels on the street when he was seven, ran a newsstand, and shined shoes. He dedicated himself to hard work throughout his life.
When he reached high school, he attended the New York School of Printing in Manhattan, where he apprenticed in the printing trades and became a linotype operator. He remained an active member of the New York Typographical Union 6 until his death.
As a linotype operator, Gabe learned grammar and spelling, which would serve him well when he began writing news stories for People’s World.
Gabe often worked in shops filled with lead fumes and experienced numerous technological revolutions throughout his career. Eventually, computers transformed the printing production process, removing the need for linotype operators.
Gabe never worked for a big publishing company because he enjoyed the artistic aspect of the process, which he was exposed to in smaller shops, primarily in lower Manhattan. Gabe learned to become a skilled graphic artist by the time he retired. But this path often led Gabe to work in non-union shops, and he never earned a pension.
Like so many of his generation, the U.S. imperialist war against Vietnam radicalized Gabe. He attended demonstrations with his sister and later met veteran peace activists, including Bill Davis and Frank Stearns, which led him to join Veterans for Peace, despite never having served in the military. He attended a weekly Vets for Peace vigil in Queens for years and engaged in countless discussions with pedestrians.
Gabe gravitated to the left and eventually found his way to the People’s School for Marxist Studies, where he took classes with famed Marxist historian and scholar Herbert Aptheker in 1986.
Gabe joined the Communist Party USA in the early 1990s. The author, then the CPUSA New York District organizer, welcomed Gabe, his wife, and two daughters to the party office when Gabe joined.
Gabe also played a key role in re-establishing the CPUSA in Queens. Gabe and his comrades were actively engaged in various grassroots struggles and electoral campaigns.
Alongside his activism for peace, Gabe campaigned with thousands of others for Barack Obama in Philadelphia in 2008 and 2012, for Frank Barbaro during his 2004 congressional run, and for numerous local and state political campaigns.
Gabe also wrote regularly about New York politics, labor struggles, and culture for People’s World. He was a skilled writer because he was an attentive listener, captivated by people’s stories. He was most proud of his article on the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire that killed 146 garment workers, mostly young women. He was also involved in countless fundraising efforts for the newspaper over the years.
Gabe became a skilled guitarist after he began playing as a teenager. He and his neighborhood friends formed a band, playing at community events and weddings, and they even performed gigs in the Catskills. Gabe put down his guitar when he got married but picked it up as a personal hobby years later, never missing a day of practice.
His love of music led to a lifelong passion for jazz. One of his many articles was a review of “Champion,” an opera about the tragic life of boxer Emile Griffith written by Jazz musician and composer Terrance Blanchard.
Gabe endured personal tragedy, including the deaths of his first wife, Harriet, who was also his childhood sweetheart, his daughter, Celene, and his grandson, Alec.
In 2005, Gabe found love again when he met Tina Nannarone through mutual friends, Chris Butters and Betty Harris. Another mutual friend, Bobby Greenberg, assured Tina that Gabe was a “sweetheart.”
They married and enjoyed many years of love and comradeship together, marching, protesting, canvassing, and traveling across the United States and the world. Gabe also treasured every moment with his family, including his seven grandchildren—three from his daughter, Celene, and four from Tina’s daughters. He was affectionately known as Grampa Gabe.
Gabe will be missed by his friends, family, and comrades. But he left his mark in life, and he’d expect us to carry his spirit into battle every day for a better world. Forward Together!
CONTRIBUTOR
