Ona Jean Gabriel

Ona Jean Gabriel (ne Coyle) died in her home on Tuesday, July 25, 2017 in Hastings, MN. She was 84. Mrs. Gabriel was born on November 17th, 1932 in Chippewa Falls, WI, to her parents, Owen and Aura Coyle. She graduated from College of Saint Scholastica in 1954 with a BA in Speech and Drama. She married John Gabriel in August of 1955. The Gabriels moved to Hastings in 1959, where John taught at Hastings High School and Ona taught at Saint Boniface (later at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton) School. Ona began the drama club at SEAS almost forty years ago, for 7th and 8th graders. She retired in 2000, and dedicated her remaining time to traveling with her husband and spending time with her children and grandchildren. Mrs. Gabriel was a passionate and committed history, English, and drama teacher who used her extensive travels to bring her classroom to life. John and Ona during their lives visited almost every US state, and over 30 countries including China, Scandinavia, Europe, Turkey, Mexico, Egypt and Russia. Her career as an educator in Hastings nearly spanned three generations. She was honored as the SEAS Teacher of the Year in 1996 and the Hastings Area Chamber of Commerce Educator of the Year 1995-1996 the first non-public school teacher in the Hastings area to be awarded the honor. Mrs. Gabriel is preceded in death by her husband John Edward, and her son, John Eugene. She is survived by her sons John (Louise), Robert (Vanessa Yingling), her daughter Jeanne Marie Gabriel-Malush (Greg), her grandchildren Gregory, Jeanne, and Gabrielle Malush, Catherine and John Gabriel, Alexandra and Nicholas Gabriel-Yingling, her step-grandchildren Elaine Montgomery and Philip and Elizabeth de la Houssaye, and her great-grandchild, Isaiah Levine-Malush. Mass of Christian Burial will be held 10:30 a.m. Monday, August 14, 2017, at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Hastings. Visitation will be held from 9:45 until time of Mass at Church on Monday.