Gabriel E. Kemmis

In the season of forget-me-nots and lily of the valley, amidst the competition of spring bird song, and the scent of lilacs, Gabriel Kemmis left the natural world he loved so well. Gabe passed away on May 15th, 2024, while in Durango, Colorado. He was 48 years old.

Gabe was born in Colorado in 1975 to David and Nancy Kemmis, and spent his growing years in Jaffrey, NH, playing basketball, and looming larger-than-life in the lives of his siblings and many cousins and friends. He turned his love of nature to dual degrees in horticulture and forestry, and after college discovered a talent for sales. After some years living in both Maine and Colorado, Gabe returned to New Hampshire where he started a wood milling business, a job which satisfied his love of beautiful wood, and allowed him plenty of time outdoors.  

Gabe had a big and charismatic personality, and a physical stature to match. No one could overlook or forget about him. He was playful, intelligent, generous and independent. He was a dedicated fisherman from the time he was a small boy, and retained that love through his whole life. He drove slowly, always watching the woods, and would report on having spotted a black bear or a river maple along the way.

Gabe had a certain nobility of spirit, and we whose lives he touched knew it well. He fought a valiant battle with alcoholism and gained supportive brothers and sisters in the halls of Alcoholics Anonymous, an environment that his father, who was his inspiration and mentor in sobriety, had frequented for decades. Gabe developed a deep faith in the years before his death, attending Catholic Mass with dear friends, and coming to rely on God, one day at a time.

Gabe is preceded recently in death by his father, David Kemmis, and survived by his mother Nancy Kemmis, his siblings Katherine McLoughlin, her husband and children, Matthew Kemmis and his children, and Nicholas Kemmis, as well as by many aunts, uncles, cousins, and dear friends from across the country. We will forget you not, dear Gabriel, and we will see you again in a new springtime. We love you and miss you.

A Mass of Christian Burial will take place at St. Patrick Church, 89 Main Street in Jaffrey, NH on June 6, 2024, at 11:00 AM.

In lieu of flowers, please call someone you love today. Financial contributions can be made in Gabriel’s memory to these organizations who assisted him in the past: Reality Check in Jaffrey, NH and The Doorway in Keene, NH.