C. Webster Abbott 3rd (Webb) passed away peacefully on Wednesday, January 1, 2020, in Ridgefield, formerly of Black Rock and Bethany, CT. He was 89 years old. Son of Dorothy (Miller) and Cornelius Webster Abbott Jr., he was born in Lancaster, PA on March 17, 1930 and raised in Baltimore, MD.
Webb attended the Gilman School in Baltimore and The Hill School in Pottstown, PA before heading to the University of Pennsylvania to study business. He left college and enrolled in the U.S. Army, where he was stationed in Germany as an intelligence officer in the CIC during the Korean War.
Webb worked in sales his entire career, first working in the wire business, then working for many years at Rudkin-Wiley Corporation of Seymour, CT. At Rudkin-Wiley he marketed the first bolt-on aerodynamic device for trucks, called the Air-Shield. The Air-Shield retro-fit mounted on the cab roof, guiding air over the top of the trailer, greatly reducing drag at highway speeds, hence saving gas. Webb went on to form his own firm, Abbott-Grayson, doing sales and marketing for the heavy truck market. After being injured in a building explosion in 1975, the company folded and he moved on to selling in the home industry, including Yankee Barn Homes, GlassHeat, and Four Seasons Greenhouses.
Aside from his family, Webb adored dogs, children, music, and sports – especially hockey, golf, and tennis – and was a fierce competitor before an accident sidelined him. Webb also played the drums, loved Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa, and any band from any era with a great horn section. He was regularly seen around Black Rock walking his beloved dog Bullet.
Webb is survived by his children Mary Price Abbott and partner Patrick Monahan of New York, Jennifer Abbott of Vermont, and his three cherished grandchildren, Michelle Holland, Marcus Holland, and Sarah Grace Abbott, and great-grandson Aiden, nine nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his wife, Mary Frances, his sisters, Dorothy Abbott Boyce and Ann Abbott Nitze, as well as his daughter Katherine.
The family would like to express their gratitude to everyone at Laurel Ridge Health Care in Ridgefield where he was cared for with love, compassion, and cranberry juice over the past 18 months. They would also like to thank all the wonderful doctors and other professionals at Danbury Hospital who gave him such wonderful care in his final month.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the PAWS, a no-kill animal shelter for dogs and cats in Norwalk, CT. There will be a life celebration for Webb at a later date.
