Carol Linda Abbott, 71, passed away quietly at home on Christmas evening, Dec. 25, 2020, with her husband of 48 years by her side.

Carol was born on .1, 1949, in Portland, Maine, to Hervey Robert Tousignant and Irene Bernice Tousignant (née DesRoberts). She graduated from Biddeford High School in 1967, and the Holy Ghost Hospital Training School for Nurses in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she earned an LPN degree, in 1970. During high school, she was a volunteer “candy striper” at the former Webber Hospital on Elm Street in Biddeford, sparking her lifelong dedication to helping people in need.

After
earning her nursing degree, Carol worked in the intensive care unit at Southern Maine Medical Center for more than two decades before taking a position at St. Joseph’s Nursing Home in Biddeford. Carol then transitioned into pediatric family medicine for the
remainder of her career. She was a beloved nurse who was recognized and warmly greeted everywhere she went in southern Maine. What would have otherwise been brief trips to the grocery store routinely took well over an hour as Carol stopped to talk with friends,
colleagues, and patients as she pushed her cart through the aisles.

Carol was married to Raymond Thomas Abbott on the morning of June 23, 1972, at St. Joseph’s Church in Biddeford. Carol wore fashionably large round glasses and her new husband sported a dark black mustache. The church was packed nearly wall-to-wall with Carol’s numerous
friends and sprawling extended family. The young couple honeymooned at the Le Château Frontenac in Quebec, Canada, before traveling to New York City for the remainder of the trip.

Throughout her life, Carol was a friend and family member who was always there. She spent countless hours helping people through difficult times, illness, tragedy, and loss. She was a consummate caregiver and confidant who never turned down a request for help, who always
showed up to lend a hand, who was ever-ready to listen or offer counsel, and who never failed to appear at someone’s bedside with kind words and comfort.

Later in life, Carol found time to pursue new interests. After taking up card playing and mahjong, her retirement schedule included twice-weekly game-playing appointments with two groups of close friends. She also relished her role as a grandmother and seized on
every opportunity that arose to spend time with her four grandchildren.

The family would like to thank the devoted doctors, nurses, and staff of New England Cancer Specialists, Southern Maine Medical Center, New England Rehabilitation Hospital, and Beacon Hospice who cared for Carol through her lung-cancer treatment, months-long rehabilitation, and end-of-life stages. They also thank the many friends, family members, and former colleagues who sent cards, delivered homemade meals, and supported the family during Carol’s time in at-home hospice, including the group of jolly friends who showed up unannounced on the lawn one warm December afternoon, in reindeer horns and a Santa costume, to sing Christmas songs to Carol through the open window of her bedroom.

Carol was preceded in death by: Christopher Scott Abbott, an infant son who died soon after childbirth; and her brother and only sibling, Paul Tousignant.

She is survived by: her husband, Ray (known around town as “Mr. Carol”); two children, Julie LaNigra and Stephen Abbott;
three teenage grandsons, Graham, Quinn, and Ethan; four-year-old granddaughter Wilhemina Indiana; and a fluffy papillon of 10 years named Shiloh.

A celebration of Carol’s life will be held in the spring or summer when it is once again safe for groups to gather outdoors. To share a memory of Carol, please visit the obituary section on the Bibber Memorial Chapel website: bibberfuneral.com

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