Abraham A. Chiavetta of New York City, an Island visitor and West Tisbury homeowner, died on Dec. 24, 2022 after a short illness. He was 95.
He was born on Sept. 24, 1927 in the Bronx in New York City. He created and raised a family in the neighborhood of Chelsea with his first wife, Adele.
He earned three degrees from New York University and taught high school English courses for 33 years at Seward Park High School, John Dewey High School and Springfield Gardens, and he founded the High School for the Humanities. He also taught at the collegiate level at various CUNY institutions for 25 years.
He found his greatest teaching pleasure in the creation and delivery of course curricula for Great Books and Advanced Placement English courses.
Teaching was his true calling and he loved having a positive impact on his students, both as a teacher and department chairman. He was respected and honored, and loved reminiscing about his former students’ memories and experiences in his classrooms.
Abraham loved Martha’s Vineyard ever since first summering in Oak Bluffs in 1970. Abe and Adele rented summer homes through Carlyle Cronig Real Estate in Vineyard Haven. Mr. Cronig always found the Chiavetta family beautiful Island residences to rent for the full summer seasons. As a high school English chairman and college professor, Abe would drive his family to the Island the day after the public school year ended and would stay until the day before teachers had to report to work. He returned for many summers, continuing to love and visit the Vineyard even after Adele died in 1983.
In 1988, he designed and built the family home in West Tisbury — a dream that became a reality. He designed the house with a vision that he could enjoy it through his older age, surrounded by multiple generations of his family. His dream came true: he was able to visit the Island until the age of 94. His wife Lil, children and spouses, grandchildren and great-grandchildren have always spent as much time on the Island as possible. The expanding Chiavetta family and many friends frequently visited, filling the house with love, laughter and joy. The Vineyard is part of his legacy.
Among other Island hobbies and habits, Abe enjoyed watching his son David play in the Oak Bluffs Summer Basketball Leagues, joining the other parents who sat in their cars and blasted car horns in celebration of good plays.
He first learned to play tennis on the Vineyard Haven public courts while in his mid-40s. It was a sport he continued to enjoy into his 80s. He loved eating oysters at Menemsha, surrounded by family, in the shadow of the beautiful sunsets.
He was the self-proclaimed “Mayor of Seth’s Pond,” where he enjoyed countless days under a tree in the shade while Lil sat in the sun. While there, he would complete his daily New York Times crossword puzzles, always in ink, while watching his children and grandchildren swim.
Abraham is survived by his family: his wife Lil, son David and his wife Loretta, grandchildren Daniel and his wife Brittany, Diana and her husband Sagar Parikh, and Ava Chiavetta; and great-grandchildren Nora and Soleil Chiavetta and Lokan Parikh, who all love the Vineyard and take full advantage of the beautiful home that their “Poppa” Abraham designed.
He was predeceased by his wife Adele and his daughter Joy, who died in 2006.
He is greatly missed.
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