He had five siblings: Gerald, Lucille, Melba and Margaret were older than him and Elizabeth was the youngest. The Abbott family was well-known and respected in the Plant City/Eastern Hillsborough County community. His father, James Alfonso, was Chief of Police and his mother, Frances “Rosetta”, was a wonderful homemaker and cook. She had the gift of serving others and there was always a large gathering with great food at the Abbott’s home. Shortly after graduating from Plant City High School in 1936, Marvin enlisted in the Army Corps that would later turn into the United States Air Force. He served our country for over 35 years receiving numerous accolades from his commanding officers to include letters of recommendation, medals, trainings and promotions. It was early in his military career that he met the love of his life, Thelma Inez Sharpe. She called him Abbott and he called her Inez. Master Sergeant Abbott retired from the Air Force after 20 years of service and re-enlisted with the Air Force Reserves as a Senior Master Sergeant until he retired in 1968. During those years, Abbott and Inez had many adventures while being stationed in several locations but they knew upon retirement from MacDill Air Force Base they wanted to settle and raise their 2 sons in South Tampa. Abbott was an exceptional airplane mechanic and Flight Chief.
After retiring from the Military, Abbott began working for Sears in their Parts and Distribution Center in Ybor City for another 15 years. His sons enjoyed working with him on their cars when they were teenagers and young men. They could always rely on Dad to solve any problem. The family referred to him as “Mr. Fix-It” because he could fix anything that was broken. Many years before retirement, he and Inez commissioned an architect to design their dream home to be built on their property in Wimauma fondly referred to as the farm. Growing up, his sons enjoyed weekends spent at the farm planting and harvesting vegetables throughout the years. Sadly, Inez passed away suddenly just a year short of fulfilling their dream of building and moving to the farm full-time. Abbott had the home built years after his retirement and had lived there for the past 33 years. He enjoyed mowing and tending to the property, making repairs and working on his truck. Pappaw Abbott loved his grandchildren and great-grand children. He looked forward to family get-togethers sharing food and conversation. He lived a long life and was an amazing man and will be sorely missed. The family would like to thank the wonderful neighbors for watching over our Dad/Pappaw and their generous offers to mow the grass or help out any way they could these last few years.
He is preceded in death by his parents and siblings, loving wife Thelma Inez, oldest son, James Michael “Mike” and daughter-in-law Catherine Sheldon Abbott. He is survived by his son Robert Timothy “Tim” Abbott, daughter-in-law Shannon Abbott; grandchildren: Shawn (Brandon) Locks, Kristen (Michael) MacCready, Robert Abbott, Tiffany (Ed) Udvadia, David Abbott, Jacob Abbott and Jillianne Abbott. Great-grandchildren: James David “JD” Abbott, Annabelle Udvadia, Edward James Udvadia, Stassi MacCready and Jett MacCready.
Visitation and graveside services will be held at Blount&Curry Funeral Home at Garden of Memories, 4207 E Lake Ave, Tampa, Fla. 33610 on Sunday, November 28, 2021. Visitation will be from 2pm – 2:45pm. Graveside services with full Military Honors and the Patriot Guard Riders will commence at 3pm.
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