Richard W. Abbott, 83, died of congestive heart failure on October 7, 2018. He passed away at his home with his wife and daughter by his side. Richard was born on June 19, 1935 to Elizabeth (Lizzie) Stephens Abbott and Walter Abbott. Richard grew up in Ellerbe, NC with his seven siblings.
Richard was a veteran of the 82nd Airborne Paratroopers; something Ruby could not resist. On February 4, 1956, Richard married his beloved Ruby Burnette of Winston-Salem.
After leaving the military, he graduated from the NC State College of Agriculture and Engineering in 1963, the last year of NC State College, before becoming a University. He received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and continued his education of many subjects throughout his life. Upon graduation, he was offered several positions in other states and took advantage of them, finally moving back to NC, where he went to work at Western Electric, soon becoming AT&T and Lucent, retiring on October 6, 1995. After retiring, he put his talents to work building beautiful furniture for his family’s home.
Richard is survived by his wife of 63 years, Ruby Abbott; daughter, Sherrie Abbott (Scott) Johns; four grandsons, Jeremy, Seth, Sean, and Christian; and six great grandchildren.
The funeral service will be held Saturday, October 13th at 2pm at Frank Vogler & Sons Funeral Home, 2849 Middlebrook Dr. Entombment will follow at Westlawn Gardens of Memory.