Gabriella (Gabbi) Camilleri died on Sept. 15 surrounded by loved ones at her home in Aquinnah. She was 63 years old.

Gabriella was born on Nov. 9, 1961, to Stephanie Hughes, an artist, and Charlie Camilleri, a jazz musician. Always an Island girl, she was 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, N.Y.

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

During her first trip to Martha’s Vineyard as a young teen, while walking down Lambert’s Cove Road, she turned to her mother and said, “We have to move here!”

She 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 during her 46 years on the Island, including fishing, waitressing, gardening, farming, baking, designing clothing and stained glass, and most recently, serving as the town clerk of Aquinnah. She was instrumental in launching the aquaculture training program at the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group’s aquaculture center in the 1990’s.

Her 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, love notes in lunch boxes, homemade clothes and silly songs she made up on the spot. She held dance parties in the living room and made the most delicious egg rolls and sugar cookies at Christmas. She had a gift for creating a warm and inviting home wherever they lived, filling it with her signature creative touches. A visit to her house often meant leaving with a jar of homemade pickles or a beautiful shirt she had sewn. When she became a grandmother, she cherished every moment with her grandchildren, taking them on walks and making art projects.

After having lived in nearly every town on the Vineyard, Gabbi made Aquinnah her home for the past 12 years. She fell in love with its close community and beautiful landscapes. She especially enjoyed walking on Philbin Beach and the nearby trails with her husband Hutch and their dog Kora.

As a child, when 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 others. She was always busy with something fun and creative: starting new projects, trying delicious recipes, planning community events or helping friends and neighbors. She created an impressive body of work including her Gabriella Designs clothing, her stained-glass art and an album of her original songs that captured her melodic poetry and acoustic guitar-picking.

Yet her most treasured moments were the simple ones: family dinners around the kitchen table, sunny days at the beach with her sisters, trips around New England with Hutch and quiet evenings on the back porch with her dog 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 was predeceased by her father, Charles Camilleri.