Life Story: Gabriel Jayanthakumar, 61; past St. Matthias Council Grand Knight

Gabriel Jayanthakumar passed away on July 3 at St. Peter’s University Hospital in New Brunswick. He was 61 years old.

He was born in Sri Lanka, and moved to the United States in 1987. Prior to moving to Somerset in 2005, he lived in Queens, Manhattan, and Jersey City. He was a member of St. Matthias Church in Somerset, served as a past Grand Knight of St. Matthias Council 9925, and volunteered for the Homebound Ministry. Mr. Jayanthakumar was employed as a Document Agent with Federal Express at Newark Airport, and also served as a part-time interpreter for the Immigration and Department of Homeland Security.

He was pre-deceased by his mother Navamany Gabrielpillai, and younger brother Anton Joseph Rome.

He is survived by his wife of 24 years, Mercy Jayanthakumar of Somerset, and his father Manuelpillai Gabrielpillai of Canada. He is also survived by his siblings Juliet Mano, Dorothy Gnano, Jacintha Jeno, Depika Beno, and Cecelia Reno. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends.

Viewing will be held from 5-9 p.m. July 7 at the Gleason Funeral Home, 1360 Hamilton St., Somerset.

Funeral services will begin at 9:30 a.m. July 8 at the Gleason Funeral Home, followed by a 10:30 a.m. funeral mass at St. Matthias Church, 170 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Somerset. Interment will follow at Resurrection Cemetery in Piscataway.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made in Gabriel Jayanthakumar’s name to American MedChem, a nonprofit organization that works to develop medications to treat childhood diseases. The website is: http://americanmedchem.org/Home.

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