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Binghamton man, 25, was 'a bright light'

Katie Sullivan | @ByKatieSullivan
From left: Nick Gabriel, with his sister, Mary-Kathryn and brother, Anthony.

For decades, the Gabriel home has been filled with music.

Joseph and Amy Gabriel's son, Nicholas, started playing music when he was 8, part of a line of musicians that includes his father, a bass guitarist and vocalist, and grandfather, who was a pianist and trumpet player.

Nick may have chosen the loudest instrument in the bunch.

"The drums were his life," said his brother, Tony, who plays the bass.

Nick used his parents' cellar as his music studio, a spot where bands he was part of as early as elementary school — there was Smash and much later on I Am Brave — would practice and where Nick would have what his mother called "drum-o-ramas."

A few weeks ago, Nick, 25, of Binghamton, had a "jam session" with a friend, filling the Gabriel cellar with music for the last time.

He died on April 4.

Musical family

Born Feb. 26, 1992, Nicholas David Gabriel was the second of three children — there's Tony, Nick and their sister, Mary-Kathryn — born to Joseph and Amy Gabriel.

Nick rode a four-wheeler as a kid and played video games such as Team Fortress with Tony, who now lives in Beacon, New York. As he got older, he enjoyed hiking near the gorges in Ithaca with his girlfriend, Alyssa Burt, of Weedsport, New York.

Nick kept a notebook filled with his graffiti drawings, loved to cook — his favorite dish was chicken Alfredo — and loved to read, devouring novels by Chuck Palahniuk and James Patterson.

But the constant thread was music.

"He was a terrific drummer," his mom said.

Nick started taking drum lessons at McNeil Music in Vestal when he was 8, and continued into his teenage years. He, his father and grandfather, Armand Gabriel, attended area drum and bugle corps competitions annually.

Nick played in the school marching band and in several bands he and his friends formed through the years — one may even have earned a record contract, "but you know teenage boys," Amy joked.

Music in his soul

Nick's taste in music was extreme.

He introduced Alyssa to metal, took her to her first metal concert and opened her appreciation for different genres of music.

In the car, Nick always had pop punk band The Wonder Years playing. There were many others he liked to listen to through the years, including rock bands like Radiohead and Set Your Goals.

It differed greatly from his taste, but Tony said what he imagines his brother appreciated most about "extreme" music were the lyrics.

Nick Gabriel, 25, of Binghamton, died April 4.

"Hardcore music is very much about lived experiences and struggles," he said. "He had a lot of energy and I think it was a way to get that energy out."

Alyssa said Nick "really liked soulful lyrics," and that appreciation helped fuel their conversations, allowing them to "connect on a deeper level" and helping them to work through trying times together.

When Alyssa was hospitalized for complications from Lyme disease, Nick dropped everything to be there, she said. He reached out to Alyssa's mom, did everything he could to make sure he was there and to make sure she was OK.

"My rock in every way," Alyssa called him.

Selfless friend

It was always Nick's nature to drop everything for someone he cared about, his loved ones said.

"If a friend called, he'd go," Amy said. "Didn't matter if he'd be late to work. For a friend, he'd go."

Even if they weren't on the best terms, Alyssa said, if a friend texted 'I need help,' Nick was there, no questions asked.

He did the same for his family.

Each time Tony moved from one place to another, Nick and their dad have been there "at the drop of a hat" to help, even if it meant taking time off work to be there.

Nick Gabriel, 25, with his girlfriend, Alyssa. Nick died April 4.

At the Gabriel home in Binghamton, Nick had a habit of taking small chores upon himself. He'd walk the dogs, help pick things up and get little things done, whether or not anyone asked him to.

And you could always count on him to make you laugh.

Shane Gowan, of Binghamton, has been a friend of Nick's since high school, and said Nick always had a way to lighten the mood, no matter what the circumstances.

"If you were Nick's friend, he truly cared about you and would do anything for you," Shane said.

Often that meant Nick was cracking a joke. He was a young man who seemed to always be smiling and was armed with a dark sense of humor few could resist laughing along with.

He favored the kind of one-liners no one should laugh at, Alyssa said, but they all do. He also made light of tough situations, like when he and Shane somehow found humor in Nick's Pontiac Bonneville's broken heater in the middle of winter.

"If you were in his orbit, you knew him as the person who brightened your day," Tony said.

'A bright light'

That was true even if times were tough for Nick, whose biggest fear, Alyssa said, was being a burden to others.

"He was smiling even when you knew things weren't going well," Shane said. "That's just the way Nick was."

His smile was infectious, Alyssa said, and it's how he's been remembered.

He was a loving son and brother, Amy said, as well as "a bright light."

Even after Nick's funeral services, most people were laughing rather than crying, Alyssa recalled, as they shared memories of Nick.

"He had a passion for life," she said, "even though life had run him down so many times."

Nicholas Gabriel is survived by his parents, Joseph and Amy Gabriel; brother, Anthony; sister, Mary-Kathryn and her fiancé Ron DeVito; his girlfriend, Alyssa Burt; as well as many loving uncles, aunts, cousins and friends.

Follow Katie Sullivan on Twitter @ByKatieSullivan.

How to get help

Nick's family has asked instead of flowers, please consider a donation in Nick's memory to a substance abuse organization of your choosing.

Resources available for individuals suffering from addiction or the addiction of a family member or friend include:

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