Rev. Dr. Octavius Gaba

With deep sorrow and much love, the Gaba and Dukuly Families announce the homegoing of their dear brother, father, grandfather, cousin and uncle, Rev. Dr. Octavius Annan Gaba. He passed away surrounded by his loving children on April 19, 2026, in Cincinnati, Ohio, following a long and courageously fought battle with Parkinson’s Disease.

Octavius was born on July 31, 1953, to Klaus and Viola Gaba, both of whom predeceased him. Octavius spent most of his formative years in Gbarnga, Bong County, where he attended elementary and junior high school at the Gbarnga Metho-dist Mission. He later matriculated to the Lutheran Training Institute (LTI) where he excelled in basketball and academics. Octavius later attended Cuttington College in Suacoco, Liberia, where he majored and graduated with a degree in education.

Motivated by his quest for knowledge, he later traveled to the U.S.A. as a Fulbright scholar, where he pursued graduate studies in education at the University of Maine, Orono. Octavius would later complete doctoral studies in systematic theology from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. His dissertation challenged and reinterpreted the sym-bolism of light and dark in biblical scholarship.

Much of Octavius’ life was spent in service to others, marked by his many years of work as a pastor at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Norfolk, Virginia, where he fundraised and built a new sanctuary of worship and converted the old sanctuary into an after school gym for the com-munity youth. His love of teaching was first inspired there by the weekly after school tutorial programs held for students in the neighborhood. When he stopped preaching in 2000, he became a full-time reading specialist and educator in Virginia Beach and Washington D.C. Public Schools, and also taught collegiate evening classes at St. Leo’s University.  Octavius loved the written word. This passion could be seen from both the pulpit and within his two published books, The Staff that Saved America, and the children’s novel Skeeter Cheats.

His children fondly recount that in his moments of leisure our father enjoyed maintaining the best manicured and most complimented lawn in the neighborhood, hitting the links with his golf clubs, working up a mean sweat on the elliptical machine at the downtown Norfolk YMCA, taking the two of us children to play tennis or catching blue crabs in First Landing State Park over a long holiday weekend in the Summer. Later in life, he found his green thumb and began caring for a host of houseplants.

While his illness impacted the strength of his body, his heart remained untouched and unwav-ering in its devotion to the health and well being of his family. His proudest accomplishment was his family. Octavius is survived by: his two children, Klaus (Eileen) and Trudy Gaba; Gertrude Gaba, his ex-wife; grandchildren, Lololi Zelda and Yael Viola; brothers, Kwasi, Laud and Jepthah; sisters, Linda and Elfrieda; Aunty Millie; and a host of relatives and friends in Liberia, Ghana, Sweden, Togo and the United States. He was preceded in death by: his father, Klaus Gaba; his mother, Viola Gaba; his brother, Anani Gaba; and his sister, Elizabeth Gaba.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Rev. Dr. Octavius Gaba, please visit our floral store.