Dr. Alexander D. Gabrielli

A few years back, one of Dr. Alex Gabrielli's daughters asked him if he wanted to travel more often. For instance, she wondered, wouldn't he like to stand and marvel at the beauty of the Grand Canyon?

It wasn't necessary, Dr. Gabrielli said. His Grand Canyon was right here, in Reading.

“What if,” he said, “my Grand Canyon was my family?”

With his loving wife, Sandra, and their six children at his bedside, Dr. Gabrielli died June 17, 2008, in his home in Reading. He was 77.

He died after a brief bout with cancer and a lifetime of love and service to his family, his community and his country. In March, Dr. Gabrielli closed the Greenfields dental practice where he treated hundreds of Reading-area families for nearly half a century.

Alexander Dominic Gabrielli was born in Reading on Aug. 31, 1930, the youngest of three sons to the late Felice Antonio and Santina (Maccaroni) Gabrielli.

A graduate of Reading High School, he joined the Navy and spent two years attached to the Marine Corps. Half that time was spent in a medical unit on the front lines in Korea.

He earned a biology degree from Albright College and, in 1961, graduated from Temple University School of Dentistry.

On June 8, he celebrated 45 years of marriage to Sandra (Franchi) Gabrielli.

Dr. Gabrielli opened his office along Barlow Avenue three months after they wed in 1963. On that first day, he treated just one patient a man from the neighborhood with a toothache. For the next four decades, the man remained a devoted patient.

Dr. Gabrielli greeted every visitor to his office with a smile or a warm embrace. To him they were his extended family.

“And they considered him like a family member,” said his wife, Sandra, who served as his assistant and receptionist.

The office was just a mile from their house, close enough that Dr. Gabrielli could run home each day to share lunch with his wife or children.

Dr. Gabrielli believed in giving to his community. He was the founder and past president of the Reading Chapter of the Deborah Hospital Foundation. In more than three decades he helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the New Jersey-based heart and lung hospital.

He shunned the spotlight, but others recognized his contributions. The Spartaco Society honored him with its Italian-American Citizenship Award; B'nai B'rith gave him its service award.

Dr. Gabrielli also served as lector at Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church, Reading, and as past president of the Holy Name Society at the church. He was a lifetime member of the American Dental Association, the Pennsylvania Dental Association and the Berks County Dental Society.

In addition to his wife, Dr. Gabrielli is survived by two sons, Anthony Gabrielli, and his wife, Karen, Granger, Ind., and Zachary Gabrielli, and his wife, Valerie, Warwick, R.I.; and four daughters: Maria Nawa, wife of Michael Nawa, Wyomissing; Theresa G. Gallen, wife of Kevin Gallen, Sinking Spring; Lisa G. Gehrke, wife of William Gehrke, Scarborough, Maine; and Nicole G. Martin, wife of John Martin, Glenside, Montgomery County.

Other survivors include two brothers, Gabriel Gabrielli and Fabio Gabrielli.

There also are nine grandchildren: Isaac, Giovanna and Felicia Nawa; Alexandra and Maria Gabrielli; Nicholas and Noah Gallen; and Olivia and Nathaniel Gehrke.

After a private viewing, a Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated Saturday at 10 a.m. in Holy Rosary RC Church, 237 Franklin St., Reading. A private burial will follow. Edward J. Kuhn Funeral Home Inc., West Reading, is in charge of arrangements.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his name to Holy Rosary Church or the Reading chapter of the Deborah Hospital Foundation, c/o the Gabrielli family, 510 Mercer St., Reading, PA 19601.