Gabriella Camilleri

The official website about her life and work.

Gabriella “Gabbi” Camilleri passed away surrounded by loved ones on September 15, 2025. She was 63 years old.

Gabriella was born on November 9, 1961, to Stephanie Hughes, an artist, and Charlie Camilleri, a jazz musician. Always an island girl, Gabbi and her sister Juana were born on the island of Mallorca, Spain. She and her family spent the first few years of her life living in Spain, Morocco, Germany, and the East Village in Manhattan, before moving to Rockland County, NY, where sisters Kate and Naomi joined the family.

As a child, Gabbi attended the Rockland Project School, where she gained a love for music, dance, sewing, stained glass, and gardening – all passions that would stay with her throughout her life. She graduated from Skunk Hollow High School in Pomona, NY, in 1979.

While walking down Lambert’s Cove Road during her first trip to Martha’s Vineyard with her family as a young teen, Gabbi turned to her mother and said, “We have to move here!” Gabbi made that dream come true when she was 17, moving to the Vineyard immediately after graduating from high school. She worked a variety of jobs throughout her 46 years living on the island, including fishing, waitressing, gardening, farming, baking, designing clothing and stained glass, and most recently, working in the education department at the Wampanoag Tribe, and as the town clerk of Aquinnah. Gabbi was also instrumental in launching the aquaculture training program at the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group in the 1990s.

Gabbi’s greatest joy in life was her children, Ava and Adam. She loved being a mother, and gave them a magical childhood full of books, music, art, love notes in lunch boxes, homemade clothes, and silly songs that she made up on the spot. She held dance parties in the living room and made the most delicious egg rolls and sugar cookies on Christmas. She had a gift for creating a cozy, warm and inviting home wherever they lived, and for filling it with her signature creative touches. She always looked for ways to share her gifts with others, and a visit to her house meant leaving with fresh baked muffins, a bottle of homemade pickles, a beautiful shirt that she had made or even plants that she had just dug up from the garden for you. When she was blessed with becoming a grandmother, she jumped at every opportunity to spend time with her grandchildren, taking them on long walks and making art projects.

After having lived in nearly every town on the Vineyard, Gabbi made the town of Aquinnah her home for the past 12 years. She fell in love with the close community and the beautiful landscapes. She loved spending time in nature and particularly loved walking on Philbin Beach and the trails surrounding their home with her husband, Hutch, and their dog, Kora.

As a child, when Gabbi was asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, she simply said, “I just want to be happy.” She dedicated her life to creating joy for herself and for others. Gabbi was always busy with something fun and creative: starting new projects, trying delicious recipes, planning community events, or lending a hand to friends and neighbors. She created an impressive body of work including her Gabriella Designs clothing, her stained-glass art as well as an album of her original songs that capture her melodic poetry and her beautiful acoustic guitar-picking. However, her most treasured moments were the simple ones: family dinners around the kitchen table, sunny days at the beach laughing with her sisters, trips around New England with Hutch, and quiet evenings on her back porch with Kora, surrounded by her sunflowers and nasturtiums. She built a life filled with beauty and happiness and generously shared that joy with everyone she met. She was dearly loved by her family and friends and will forever be deeply missed.

Gabriella is survived by her husband, Stephen Hutchinson; her children Ava and Adam Castro, son-in-law Scott Goldin, and stepchildren Caetlyn, Dylan, and Alayna Hutchinson. She is also survived by her mother, Stephanie Hughes; sisters Juana Camilleri, Kate Camilleri Ferguson, and Naomi Camilleri; her former husband Scott Castro; and grandchildren Wren, Sawyer, Kaiya, and Ellis; as well as many beloved cousins, nephews, nieces, and friends. She is predeceased by her father, Charles Camilleri.

Gabriella was laid to rest in the West Tisbury Cemetery on September 17, 2025. A memorial and celebration of her life will be held on Sunday, November 2, at the West Tisbury Agricultural Hall, 3-7pm. All are invited to come and remember Gabriella.