Obituary of Gabriel Stelian

Gabriel Stelian, 87, of Lawrenceville passed away on Sunday, March 7, 2021 at Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center of Plainsboro, NJ.  Gabriel was born in Arad, Romania from which he escaped in 1966 along with his wife and son. They lived in Rome before coming to the US in December of the same year to settle in the Philadelphia area.

Gabe was employed by Certain-Teed as a Manager of Industrial Engineering.  He had a Masters in both Mechanical and Industrial Engineering and also taught at Drexel University. Gabe loved opera, having served on the board of the Princeton Festival for over a decade. He and his wife Judy saw Rigoletto over 180 times, but Gabe was actually most passionate about Wagner’s Ring Cycle, having visited Bayreuth for their Wagner Festival several times. He and Judy traveled extensively and enjoyed classical music concerts and theater in addition to opera. As a lover of language, Gabe spoke 7 of them.

Predeceased by his parents Ernest and Elena Seidner, he is survived by his wife Judy, son Peter, daughter-in-law Hélène, and granddaughters Bianca and Indigo. Gabe — in all his stubborn, wry, opinionated, erudite, honest complexity — will be remembered and forever loved. And so he lives on.

Burial will be in Princeton Cemetery on Wednesday March 10, 2021 at 3PM with an outdoor service. Coffee will be served at the Stelian residence after the ceremony.

Memorial donations in lieu of flowers may be made in Gabe’s name to the following:

The Princeton Festival 

American Cancer Society

American Heart Association

Arrangements are under the direction of the Star of David Memorial Chapel of Princeton.

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