Obituary for Martha “Marti” A. Abell Martha Anne Babcock Abell, a resident of Rome, PA, formerly of Fulton, NY and Cranford, NJ, died peacefully on November 29, 2018 after a long period of declining health. She was 78 years old and had been married to the love of her life for 53 years. She was born on April 29, 1940, the daughter of Helen Kolmorgen Babcock and Alfred Penn Babcock.
She attended school in Cranford, NJ, where she was active in Girl Scouts, the Methodist Church, and various musical endeavors. She won the Betty Crocker Homemaker of the Year award and could make a cheese soufflé that seldom fell. She met her future husband, Guy Walter Abell, when they were both studying Education at SUNY Oswego.
She taught school in Fulton NY, where she and Guy settled for the next 33 years. The arrival of her daughters, Susan Elizabeth and Karin Martha, put her teaching career on hold. During that time, she was a room mother, a Girl Scout leader, and devoted time to her many enthusiasms, volunteering for political campaigns and learning to belly dance and baking cookies for endless events.
Marti was always clever with her hands. She made many of her own clothes, as well as clothing for her daughters and their dolls. In 1976, she sewed Bicentennial outfits for the whole family, including beloved dolls.
For years, every friend who had a new baby received a handmade Raggety Ann or Andy doll. She sewed an entire set of Noah’s Ark animals and a set of winsome Panda bears for her daughters. She made cross-stitch quilt tops that she hand quilted for her husband and daughters.
She learned to hand set type from her father and was known to write corrections in books, even ones she didn’t own. In recent years, she made full-size scrap quilts that are exceedingly warm and popular with cats. Marti was a devoted volunteer, giving over 1,000 hours of her time to Beaver Lake Nature Center and the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse.
She was a regular blood donor, a member of the National Amateur Press Association (an organization that was special to her father), a lifelong soprano, and nature enthusiast. She was a supporter and participant of Women in the Wild. She adored cats and dogs, seemingly equally, and was eternally charmed by otters and moose.
She loved her home in Rome for the steady parade of white-tailed deer and cows in the nearby pastures. Marti was a voracious reader and embraced e-readers, while still cherishing paper books. She could read a book in a day and always had a stack of books nearby.
She loved libraries and used book sales. As a member of the National Amateur Press Association, she published Marti’s Mouser, in reference to her father’s long-running publication, Alf’s Cat. She and her husband, Guy, edited, wrote and produced the Barclay Mountain book for the Bradford County Historical Society.
She is survived by her husband, Guy, Luther the Wonder Cat, daughters Susan Abell and Karin Abell, sons-in-law, Mitch Barron and Adam Constabaris, grandsons Max Abell Barron and Emmett Zaphod Constabaris, her dear sister, Susan Babcock Eichner, her five nephews and niece: David, Tony, Doug, Mike and Dawn. In addition, she is survived by her cousins Linda, Marilyn and Bruce and many second cousins and grandnieces and nephews. The family is planning a celebration of life event to occur in the spring of 2019.
Please consider a memorial gift in Marti’s name to Beaver Lake Nature Center, 8477 East Mud Lake Rd. , Baldwinsville, NY 13027, a place near and dear to her heart. www.
beaverlakenaturecenter.org Memories, condolences or your favorite picture may be shared by visiting her guest book at www. sutfinfuneralchapel.com Caring assistance is being provided by the Cooley Family of the Sutfin Funeral Chapel, 273 S. Main St., Nichols. To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Martha “Marti” A. Abell please visit our Sympathy Store.
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