John Andrew Gabric

John Andrew Gabric, 70, of Essex, VT and Bradenton, FL passed away unexpectedly at his Florida residence on June 22, 2017. Born on March 30, 1947 in Canton, Ohio, the son of the late Andrew and Eva (Sarkis) Gabric. He grew up in Akron, Ohio, along with his sister Barbara. He graduated from Garfield High School in 1965 and The University of Akron with a degree in electrical engineering in 1970. He often shared stories of his wonderful childhood, spending the summers working on his aunt and uncles farm and having fun with his cousins. On June 20th 1970, John married his high school sweetheart and love of his life, Sharon Cormany. They moved to Vermont a week later so John could start his 42-year long career at IBM. John held many titles at IBM, but his favorite was being a Memory Design Engineer and a Memory Development Manager. One of John's greatest joys and devotions was to his family. John was the definition of self-sacrificial love. He was filled with selfless and unconditional love for his wife and children. John and Sharon adopted two children, Jason and Heather. Not only was he an incredible father and role model for his children, but also an extremely devoted caregiver to Sharon for the past 17 years after Sharon suffered a stroke and most recently dementia. The last couple of years were the most difficult but the thought of having to place her in a home broke his heart. He always put his family and friends first, and that was evident from the life he lived. He enjoyed spending time with friends, friends he treated like family. He was a grandfather to Daniel, who had just celebrated his 6th birthday on their wedding anniversary. "Pop-pop" as Daniel lovingly called him, loved to play outside together or take a ride on the tractor. He was also very close with many family members out of state and made it a point to keep in touch and visit. John was an avid fisherman, it all began when he moved to Vermont and quickly needed to find a hobby, as there was not much else to do in Vermont in the 1970's. His love for fishing grew from there. That was where he found his serenity. He loved a nice calm sunny day spent on the boat having a cold one. He always wanted to be the first one out on the water before all the other boats scared the fish away. He was the go-to guy for fixing, building, or borrowing anything. He built the house that he still lived in in Vermont, learning the carpentry skills from his father. He could often be found tinkering around his garages or basement working on a project, gadget, invention or home repair. He was known for being a big "Chevy" fan, an Ohio State Buckeye, Giants and Patriots fan. John and Sharon also loved spending the weekends going to garage sales. John was the master at finding deals. He was well known for his sense of humor, always had a funny little saying or something to joke about, and often a funny story to share. John was an active communicant of Saint Pius X Parish in Essex and he had been a member of the Knights of Columbus. He recently decided to spend his winters in Florida. He enjoyed spending time down there with his cousin Don and wife Becky, his FL neighbors, going saltwater fishing or going to Beer Can Island on the boat. He loved the sun and hot weather and was getting ready to move down there full-time. Mr. Gabric is survived by his wife, Sharon L. (Cormany) Gabric. He is also survived by his son Jason Gabric of Essex, and his grandson Daniel Gabric, his daughter Heather Connolly and her husband Todd of Essex, his very close cousin, Don Jenei and his wife Becky Thomas of Stow, Ohio, his Aunt Helen Gabric of Green, Ohio and Aunt Doris Gabric of Alliance, Ohio. He is also survived by his mother-in-law, Betty Cormany of Garland, Texas, his brother-in-law Dennis Cormany and wife, Dena Cormany, nieces Dara and Darcy Cormany, all of Richardson, Texas. He leaves several cousins. He also leaves behind many special lifelong friends, neighbors and fishing buddies who were as close as family. He was predeceased by his parents Andrew and Eva Gabric, sister Barbara Gabric, and many uncles and aunts. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend a Mass of Christian Burial on Saturday, July 8th at Saint Pius X Church, 20 Jericho Road, Essex, VT at 10 AM. Interment will follow at the Resurrection Park Cemetery 200 Hinesburg Rd, South Burlington. Information about a story sharing luncheon on Saturday will be provided at the wake and funeral. Calling hours will be held at Ready Funeral and Cremation Service Mountainview Chapel, 68 Pinecrest Drive, Essex Junction, Friday July 7th from 4-7 PM.