Gypsy Anne Haigler Abbott

Gypsy was a force of nature, a mathematician, a mother, and above all, a kind spirit who spent her life making everyone around her feel important. She was relentlessly in motion, always up for shopping, a lunch out, or a long drive, never needing much of a reason to go.

Named Gypsy by a father she lost young, she carried his impish smile her whole life. A runner, cheerleader, and fire baton twirler growing up in Alabama, she went on to study mathematics at Birmingham Southern College. She began teaching high school math, then went back for her PhD and became a statistics professor at UAB, a career she was deeply proud of. More than anything, she loved swimming and being in the water. Her daughter, a technical diver, dedicated a dive site off Roatan in her honor, called Gypsy’s Jewel.

She found joy in the smallest things, a lunch out, a drive through an old neighborhood, a margarita with a little sweetness added in later years. She and her husband George C. Douglas, married for twenty seven years, traveled the American West together. With their dog in a pickup truck, and she loved travel by land or by air, with Paris holding a special place in her heart.

Her greatest love was her family: her devoted husband George; her best friend and daughter, Tracey; and her loving son, Michael.

She is remembered by her dear friends Sandy, Brenda, Tad, Katia, and Victoria, and many more, some of whom visited her the day before she passed and shared laughter with her one more time. She loved gladiolus, the color purple, a good scented candle, and twilight, her favorite time of day. She held fast to the hymn “On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand.” She will be remembered, above all, for her kindness.

She is survived by her husband, George Douglas; her daughter, Tracey; her son, Michael; and her step sisters, Tommie Sue Shaw and Mary Gettys. She was blessed also to have 2 step children through George, Jennifer Vachris and Michael Douglas. She will be deeply missed by all who knew her.

In lieu of flowers, Gypsy would appreciate donations made to the Foundry Dental Center due to their work providing affordable dental care to the undeserved and those in recovery.

https://foundrydentalcenter.com/