Joan Celine McAbee

YORK, Maine - Joan Celine McAbee died peacefully surrounded by her family on Saturday, April 7, 2018 in York, Maine. Born on March 31, 1950 in Portsmouth to John and Jean Lorenz.

Joan attended Barrington High School where she graduated in 1968. She attended the University of New Hampshire, her father's alma mater, where she graduated in 1972. Upon graduation, Joan began teaching English in Roxbury, during the Boston busing crisis. In 1977, she moved to the Seacoast and started teaching at Portsmouth High School. That same year she also met her future husband, Edward McAbee whom she married in 1978.

Joan continued to teach for several years after the birth of her two children. In 1991, she began law school at Franklin Pierce, graduating in 1994. She subsequently practiced criminal law in Salem as a public defender until 2014. In this role she manifested her lifelong passion for helping those less fortunate.

Throughout her two careers, Joan remained a nurturing mother to her two beloved children. Later in life, Joan was a grandmother to three grandchildren of whom she adored. Between being a devoted wife, mother and grandmother, Joan enjoyed spending time at the beach in the shining sun and cool breeze.

In addition to her loving husband, Joan is survived by her two children, Sarah Cassani, wife of Michael and mother to Ella; and Ian McAbee, husband to Cherie and father to Avery and Dylan.

Joan was predeceased by her five brothers and is survived by her sister Julie Galkin.

SERVICES: Friends are invited to visit with Joan's family on Thursday April 12, 2018 from 2-5 p.m., in the JS Pelkey Funeral Home, 125 Old Post Rd., Kittery, Maine 03904, where a funeral will be celebrated at 5 p.m. Burial will be held privately in the First Parish Cemetery in York. Online condolences may be made by visiting www.jspelkeyfuneralhome.com.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to the York Hospital Nursing Department. Care for the McAbee family has been entrusted to the JS Pelkey Funeral Home.