Obituary: Natalie Gubbay, age 26, Wellesley High School graduate

To the Wellesley community, from the family of Natalie Gubbay:

It is with profound sadness that we announce the tragic passing of Natalie Gubbay, age 26. She was taken from the world far too soon in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on the evening of October 23rd, in a senseless car accident caused by a reckless drunk driver. She was waiting at a stop light, coming home from a trivia night with friends.

Born on March 18, 1998, Natalie brought a boundless energy to life, always carrying a sense of purpose, compassion, and adventure. She was a radiant light to her family, friends, and community, and leaves a legacy beyond her years.

Natalie was born in Denver, Colorado, and spent her early years in Atlanta, Georgia, where her sister Olivia was born. The family moved to Wellesley, Massachusetts in 2004 where Natalie attended public schools, starting at Upham Elementary and graduating from Wellesley High in 2016 including a semester at the Maine Coast Semester School at Chewonki. Following high school, Natalie attended Colorado College, where she earned a degree in Mathematical Economics and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study labor economics in Argentina.

From a young age, Natalie knew who she was and always cut her own path. Her academic abilities, compassion, and sense of purpose and justice have left a deep impression on her friends, family, and teachers alike.

During her high school years, Natalie’s favorite activity was caring for her community garden plot on Weston Rd. She drew meaning and importance from caring for her plot, tenderly watering her plants, and cultivating and sharing her vegetable harvest. In all the places she later lived, she never failed to find a way to grow her own vegetables, no matter how small the space. She also found a passion for sports, hiking, and biking. She co-founded Colorado College’s spikeball club and loved to camp with her friends. By the time she left college, she had climbed several “fourteeners”, hiked and explored all over the northeast and Colorado, biked from Wyoming to California, and road tripped across Canada. She was adventurous and she inspired that spirit within her friends and family. While serious about her goals, Natalie was also funny, and at times even goofy, while pursuing her passions.

During the COVID years, Natalie worked in Washington, D.C. in the field of Education Policy, and in 2022 she moved to Minneapolis to take a research position in the Opportunity and Inclusive Growth Institute within the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. It was a perfect fit with her sense of justice and her strong desire to have an impact and change things for the better. She recently had the opportunity to co-author groundbreaking work on the economy. She joined colleagues from around the bank to advance the understanding of incomes in Native areas.

In Minneapolis, Natalie found a strong community and many friends through her activities. She rediscovered her childhood love for gymnastics and found great joy in re-conquering skills. She values community and diversity and has an amazing ability to connect deeply with people from all walks of life and at all ages. Her friends know her as “the glue” that brought everyone together, whether in Wellesley, Colorado, D.C. or Minneapolis. In addition to her job at the Fed, she volunteers at a local homeless center and teaches English classes. In all that she did, she found meaning in the ways she could engage with and contribute to local community.

Natalie had just completed her application for the prestigious National Science Foundation Doctoral Studies Scholarship to investigate the impacts of policies empowering renters’ collective action in Washington, D.C.’s deep urban transformations. She was on the verge of submitting her applications to pursue a PhD. She was about to truly soar when her life was taken from her and from the world.

Natalie was part of a large extended family who loved her beyond measure. Her parents, Rachel and Keith, and her cherished sister Olivia who adored her and looked up to her in countless ways. On her mother’s side, she had a beloved Australian extended family, where she spent many Christmases with her grandparents, Phil and Eleanor Hancock; her Uncle Mark, Aunt Liz, and cousins Alice (and husband Tom and children Edie, Lucy and Heidi), George (and wife Minna), Arthur (and fiancée Lara), and Louise (and husband Karthi). Her Uncle Peter and Aunt Betty and their family were also a large presence. On her father’s side, she will be forever loved by Uncle Dave, Aunt Penny, Grandma Kate, and cousins Daniella, Sophia, and Ben, who she always looked forward to visiting.

A celebration of Natalie’s life will be held on Saturday, November 2, at 4pm, at Wellesley Village Church, 2 Central St. Wellesley, Mass. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her honor to Mothers Against Drunk Driving at MADD.com.

Natalie was incredibly loved. She will be terribly, terribly missed, but her beautiful and brilliant smile and spirit will be with us forever.