Kristine Louise Habbe

1950 - 2020

Gales Ferry - Kristine L. Habbe, 69, of Gales Ferry passed away Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020, at The Connecticut Hospice in Branford. She was born in New Haven April 14, 1950, the daughter of the late Corrine (Kilberg) Tibbetts and the late Millard Tibbetts. She was predeceased by her first husband, Jonathan Sainsbury and survived by her husband Alan Habbe.

Kristine graduated from Branford High School and lived in New Haven where she worked at several companies while also assisting her husband with his vintage Jaguar car part enterprise. For many years she and her husband ran the Jaguar Club of Connecticut organization.

One of her greatest enjoyments was volunteering her time as a community advocate, establishing the Hill/City Neighborhood Action Group.

She spearheaded a seeds-to-flowers planting program for the parks and greenspaces along the streets of New Haven. In recognition of her efforts, she was presented an official citation of appreciation from the Board of Aldermen.

She was also instrumental in obtaining a grant for a children's park near her neighborhood and was very involved with establishing the Long Wharf Preserve at the shoreline.

For many Christmas holidays she obtained a special grant and partnered with the owner of Sage American Grill & Oyster Bar to provide a Christmas Party for the neighborhood children with presents and a visit from Santa Claus.

In addition to her husband, Alan, Kristine is survived by an extended family. Her nieces, Leslie-Ann Hodges of Westbrook and Carlene Townsend of Killingworth; her aunt, Marjorie (Kilberg) Shea of New Mexico; and cousins, Dana Shea-Reid (Colorado), Maureen Shea (Arizona), John Shea (Texas), Daniel Shea (Wisconsin) and Steven Adkins and Laurie Adkins Mosely (North Carolina).

A celebration of Kristine's life, for friends and relatives, will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22, at her home (cghabbe@wmconnect.com). In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be directed to The Connecticut Hospice in Branford, CT (https://www.hospice.com/donate/) or to the American Cancer Society (https://donate3.cancer.org/).