Gabriel Santo "Gabe" DeSimone

Gabriel Santo DeSimone died on April 3, 2023 at 11:29 pm at the age of 88 in Lecanto, Florida.

Gabe was the son of the late Joseph and Antoinette DeSimone. Both of his parents were from Naples, Italy. Gabe was born on March 3, 1935 in Brooklyn, New York.

He is survived by his wife Jay and her son Julian, his son Todd and his wife Brandis, and their two children, Blakely and Ryan.

Gabe joined the Army when he was 17 years old. He fought in the Korean War as a soldier and later, at the end of the war, was in the Military Police and helped Korean children in an orphanage.

He worked as an insurance agent when he got out of the Army and as a real estate broker. He was the manager and part owner of the restaurants The Barbary Coast on the Jersey coast, and the Figaro Faust in Manhattan. However, he is best known as the owner of Good Earth. He had several Good Earth Health Food Stores in Manhattan on the East Side and the West Side as well as in Queens and Mount Kisco in Westchester.

Gabe's first health food store was a tiny store on Broadway in Manhattan, New York called Tigermite. He opened the first Good Earth in 1972. It became very popular and was featured many times on CBS news. Gabe was known as "Mr. Good Earth."

In 2010, Gabe retired to Florida where he volunteered at Saint Margaret's Episcopal Church in The Food Pantry and Feed My Sheep programs. Gabe is loved more than he could have ever known.