Margaret Gerbasi

Margaret Creech Gerbasi passed away at home peacefully on April 13, 2020. She was 93. Margaret was born in Bennettsville, South Carolina on Christmas Eve in 1926 to Joseph William Creech and Lida Steen Creech. She was a graduate of Bennettsville High School’s class of 1944. Margaret is survived by her children, Ronald Gerbasi Jr. and his wife Nicola of Edgewater, Maryland, Catherine Macchio and her husband Frank of Stamford, Connecticut, and Cindy Ford of Fort Myers, Florida, eight grandchildren and eleven great grandchildren. She was predeceased by her husband, Ronald Gerbasi Sr., her sisters, Mary Creech Chavis (Dewey), Ruby Creech Usher (Austin), Josephine Creech Maybank (Joseph), and Beulah Creech Meree (Charles), and her brothers, John Kenny Creech (Blanche), Ralph Ruler Creech (Molly), James Harold Creech, and Curtis Creech, Sr. (Ella). Margaret met her husband, Ronald, a Greenwich resident, during World War II. He was a sailor stationed at the Naval Base in Charleston, South Carolina where she worked as a riveter at the Navy Yard. She was 19 and he was 18. Ronald sent his new bride love letters while he was at sea, which she saved to this day. After the war, the couple spent the next 63 years of their marriage living between South Carolina and Connecticut to be near both Margaret’s large southern family and Ronald’s relatives in the north. Margaret was a stay-at-home wife, mother, aunt, and grandmother. She provided loving attention to all of her children and grandchildren as well as her nieces and nephews. Margaret was the support person that the family sought out when help, advice, or comfort was needed. She took her coffee black and her tea with milk and sugar. She loved taking long walks along River Road in Cos Cob, and along Lake Wallace in Bennettsville. She had a special talent for tackling crossword puzzles each day. Even after she lost her eyesight to macular degeneration, she was able to visualize the puzzle as her husband read the clues to her. Her resilient spirit was cultivated by being a life-long Mets fan and Democrat. The family would like to thank Therese and Celia St. Juste for their loving care during her final year. Their support helped not only Margaret, but also the whole family. They were greatly appreciated. Funeral services will be handled at a later date by Burroughs, Cooper, and Kiser Funeral Home, 688 Beauty Spot Road, Bennettsville, SC 29512, with the assistance of Lacerenza Funeral Home, 8 Schuyler Avenue, Stamford, CT. As we await the chance to celebrate her life, please consider honoring Margaret’s memory by reaching out to a loved one today as she so often did with her family and friends.