Robert Bruce Abel I (1930-2008)

Obituary
Robert Bruce Abel, 77, Sarasota, formerly of Wayne, Ill., and Lake Geneva, Wis., died March 9, 2008. Services will be at 3:30 p.m. March 28 at St. Boniface Episcopal Church on Siesta Key. Survivors include his wife, Mary Beth Turner, whom he married in 1966 in Palm Beach; three sons, Robert Bruce Abel Jr. (Stephanie) of San Francisco, William Turner Abel (Kimberly) of West Palm Beach and Taylor Drexel Abel (Esther) of Tampa; and grandchildren Alex, Avery, Sophie, Jenna, Emma, Ellie and Charlie. Bob grew up in Riverside, Ill., and graduated in 1953 from Northwestern University, where he was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. After graduation, he traveled to Cuba and reported on the rising unrest in that country. Upon his return to the United States, he studied advanced finance and accounting at the Chicago Graduate School of Management (Keller Institute). He enjoyed several prominent roles in his varied business career, including president of Abel Laboratories, a clinical laboratory started by his grandfather; senior partner with International Growth Consultants, a Chicago Investment Banking group, where he specialized in real estate finance; and president of Medical Analytics, based in New York. Upon relocating to Sarasota in 1976, he became a broker of investment real estate, concentrating in the acquisition, finance and conversion of mobile home communities to resident ownership. It was also in Sarasota that he pursued his true passion: poetry and writing. He was publisher of The Sarasota Review of Poetry, authored three novels and wrote and published numerous books of poetry, including Collected Poems in January 2008. Bob was a founding member of the Siesta Key Sertoma Club and a member of the Monday Group, a local literary society. When his boys were young, he coached the Siesta Key Baseball League and later served on the Individual Artist Task Force of the Sarasota Arts Council. Up until his death, he served as a director of the Field Club. He also loved traveling, hiking, skiing, tennis and fine wine, all of which he enjoyed in the company of his wife, children and friends.