Obituary for Henriette Abel Stackpole
Henriette “Cookie” Abel Stackpole, MD, age 87, died peacefully on March 3, 2022 at Huntington Common in Kennebunk, ME. She was born and raised in Elizabeth, NJ, the fourth child of Henri Abel, MD and Alice Gibb Abel, MD. She attended Battin High School, graduated from Vassar College, received her medical degree from Cornell University Medical College, and completed an internship at Lenox Hill Hospital and a dermatology residency at New York Hospital. She was a clinical assistant professor of dermatology at Cornell University College of Medicine and an attending physician at Elizabeth General Hospital/Trinitas Medical Center, and she practiced dermatology, together with her father and two of her siblings, in the Elizabeth community for over 50 years.
Cookie was a warm, energetic, outgoing person with a strong work ethic who was deeply committed to her family, her patients, and her community in Elizabeth. She was married to the love of her life, Robert “Bob” Stackpole, for 60 years and valued their long, happy marriage profoundly. Together, they raised four daughters in Elizabeth near Cookie’s parents and siblings. Cookie wanted to stay close to her family and foster a warm relationship for her children with their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins; the extended family was very close and always provided help and support to each other.
Cookie loved her life with Bob and her daughters. Over the years, she never missed the chance to go on vacation with her family, attend a child’s school event, or turn a holiday into a celebration. Cookie and Bob loved to travel, especially to Europe, and had a shared, abiding interest in European and American history and culture. Cookie was also an avid tennis player, and, together with Bob, made many wonderful lifelong friends through the game. Some of Cookie’s favorite memories included funny family stories from her childhood in Elizabeth, family vacations driving cross-country in a station wagon with Bob and their daughters, and, most of all, the time that she and Bob spent with their children, grandchildren, and friends at their much-loved summer home in Amagansett.
Cookie was predeceased by her husband Bob and grandson Drew, and will be deeply missed by the rest of her family, including her daughters Sarah, Betsy, Jane, and Alice, her grandchildren Serena, Christian, Robert, Charlotte, Will, and Brooke, her surviving sisters Alice, Louise, and Ernestine, as well as many wonderful friends. She will be remembered by all who knew her for her remarkable strength, her ready smile, and her lively sense of humor.
A private memorial service will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Cookie can be made to Amagansett Village Improvement Society (PO Box 661, Amagansett, NY 11930) or Trinitas Regional Medical Center (Trinitas Health Foundation, P.O. Box 259, Elizabeth, NJ 07207-0259). The Stackpole family would like to extend its deep gratitude to the staff at Huntington Common and Northern Light Home Care and Hospice for their kindness and loving care during Cookie’s final year of life.
Cookie was a warm, energetic, outgoing person with a strong work ethic who was deeply committed to her family, her patients, and her community in Elizabeth. She was married to the love of her life, Robert “Bob” Stackpole, for 60 years and valued their long, happy marriage profoundly. Together, they raised four daughters in Elizabeth near Cookie’s parents and siblings. Cookie wanted to stay close to her family and foster a warm relationship for her children with their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins; the extended family was very close and always provided help and support to each other.
Cookie loved her life with Bob and her daughters. Over the years, she never missed the chance to go on vacation with her family, attend a child’s school event, or turn a holiday into a celebration. Cookie and Bob loved to travel, especially to Europe, and had a shared, abiding interest in European and American history and culture. Cookie was also an avid tennis player, and, together with Bob, made many wonderful lifelong friends through the game. Some of Cookie’s favorite memories included funny family stories from her childhood in Elizabeth, family vacations driving cross-country in a station wagon with Bob and their daughters, and, most of all, the time that she and Bob spent with their children, grandchildren, and friends at their much-loved summer home in Amagansett.
Cookie was predeceased by her husband Bob and grandson Drew, and will be deeply missed by the rest of her family, including her daughters Sarah, Betsy, Jane, and Alice, her grandchildren Serena, Christian, Robert, Charlotte, Will, and Brooke, her surviving sisters Alice, Louise, and Ernestine, as well as many wonderful friends. She will be remembered by all who knew her for her remarkable strength, her ready smile, and her lively sense of humor.
A private memorial service will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Cookie can be made to Amagansett Village Improvement Society (PO Box 661, Amagansett, NY 11930) or Trinitas Regional Medical Center (Trinitas Health Foundation, P.O. Box 259, Elizabeth, NJ 07207-0259). The Stackpole family would like to extend its deep gratitude to the staff at Huntington Common and Northern Light Home Care and Hospice for their kindness and loving care during Cookie’s final year of life.