Corazon Gabriel

Mrs. Corazon Marcos Gabriel passed away on Tuesday, August 13, at 4:23 pm. She was 71 years old. Cora was born in the Philippines and lived there as a child and young adult. She grew up with a passion for helping her family and a desire to obtain a strong education. In 1969, she graduated with Honors from the Mapua Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering. She married her beloved husband Dominador on January 27, 1974. Shortly thereafter, they both immigrated to the United States and settled in Jersey City. There she enjoyed raising her two loving children, Rose and Manny. Her family later moved to Hillsborough in 1993. Cora was employed for over 30 years by ExxonMobil in Bayonne as a chemical engineer. She retired from her successful career in 2008. She and Dom moved to Somerset in 2012. They enjoyed retirement together and the loving company of family and friends, who often came to visit. She and her family also enjoyed traveling to the Philippines to visit their distant relatives. She was considered the true matriarch of her family in the US and helped her nieces and nephews immigrate to the United States. Family was the most important thing to her, and she always placed the interests of her family above her own. This was a value that she instilled in her children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews. Cora also loved to cook, watch sporting events, and go on shopping excursions with her husband and children. She was often the life of family gatherings and was a great storyteller. She also had a wonderful and spirited sense of humor. As a devout Catholic, she regularly attended Mass and prayed for the health and well-being of herself and her family. Her life was full of medical challenges that she met with courage, grace, and selflessness. She survived breast cancer in 1999. She required dialysis for nearly 1 year until she successfully received a kidney transplant in 2010. In March 2019, she developed leukemia and fought the disease heroically until her death. Her husband, daughter, and son stayed by her side until she passed. She expressed her love and pride for them as well as for all her family. Although she suffered much during her life, she endured and undoubtedly is looking upon us from Heaven. Her life is an inspiration and testament to her faith in God and love for her family. She will be forever remembered and appreciated by her family who are all better people for having known and been touched by this most kind, generous, and thoughtful mother, wife, grandmother, daughter, sister, aunt, niece, and friend. She was predeceased by her parents, Amado and Consolacion Marcos. She was also predeceased by her sister Pilar Alquiros and her brother Elizeo Marcos. Corazon is survived by her beloved husband of 45 years Dominador Gabriel of Somerset, her daughter Rose Chan and son-in-law Ed of Basking Ridge, and her son Manny Gabriel and daughter-in- law Heather Berkley of Jacksonsville, Florida. She is also survived by her siblings Flordeliza Ramos of the Philippines, Estrellita Santos and husband Florido of the Philippines, and Gene Marcos of Jersey City as well as her uncle Ireneo Villangca and sister-in-law Editha Marcos, both of the Philippines. Lastly, she is survived by her five grandchildren Aidan, Joseph and Luke Chan; and Wisteria and Logan Gabriel. Visiting will be held from 4-8 PM on Sunday, August 18, at the Gleason Funeral Home, 1360 Hamilton Street in Somerset. Her funeral mass will take place on Monday, August 19, at 10:30 AM at St. Matthias Roman Catholic Church in Somerset. Entombment will follow at Holy Cross Mausoleum in Basking Ridge. Please consider a contribution in Mrs. Gabriel's name to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society at www.lls.org