WEEMS—Thea Marshall Abel, born on August 19, 1929, passed away peacefully at her home in Weems on July 18, 2025, alongside her close family and friends.
Thea was born in Brooklyn, New York, where she lived with her parents, grandparents Rose and Harry Forman, and younger brother, Samuel Forman, who now resides with his family in Dallas, Texas.
Thea married her husband, Alex Abel, (deceased May 24, 1990) in 1948 when she was 19 years old. After living in Brooklyn for a short while, Alex and Thea moved to Massapequa, New York, before they relocated to Kirkwood, Missouri, in 1963. During their time in Kirkwood, Thea was actively involved with the Gateway Theater in St. Louis, where she acted. It was there that she met her best friend and fellow actress, Patricia Ball. Aside from acting, she also was engaged in other projects which included doing voiceovers for various commercials on TV and radio in St. Louis. Thea and Pat started a two-woman-show that toured around the country in which they gave beautifully dramatic readings including “St Louis The Theatre of the River.”
In 1973, Thea and Alex relocated again, this time, around the metro DC area, where Thea began work for Eli Productions, creating radio shows. She then started Thea Marshall Communications where she continued creating productions tailored to TV commercials and scripts. It was at Thea Marshall Communications where she landed her largest client, AARP. She also produced and starred in a radio talk show where she interviewed many famous celebrities.
In the early 80s, Thea and Alex relocated to Weems, where Thea continued her business nearby in White Stone, where she produced and starred in a radio interview show, Neck Tales. After Alex passed away, she became an author and wrote a book, Neck Tales, which featured local stories about the Northern Neck.
Aside from her professional accomplishments, Thea was a loving mother, raising two daughters, Hilaire (who passed away in 2019) and Madeleine Abel. Hilaire’s daughter, Eva Abel, was eventually adopted by Thea and Alex. Eva lived with Thea throughout her life, except for college and a few years after. Within that time, Eva had a daughter of her own—a beautiful, smart young girl named Eden Ginsberg. For the past 10 years, Eva has been Thea’s primary caregiver. Madeleine currently lives in Northern Virginia and has two children, Benjamin and Hannah VanHook.
Madeleine, retired, has been able to spend the past eight months with her mother on a bi-weekly basis. In October 2024, Thea suffered a fall, and required 24/7 care. Thea spent eight months at Lancashire Nursing Home, and was surrounded by the love and kindness of Eva and her lovely partner Joseph Garcia, Madeleine, and the wonderful nurses, each of whom cared for Thea 24/7 for the last six weeks of her life.
Eva, Joseph, Madeleine, Ben, Hannah, Eden and the whole Abel family are forever grateful for being able to spend so much time with Thea in her last months of her life.
A celebration of her life will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, July 26, at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of the Rappahannock in White Stone.
The service will also be on Zoom which you access through the following link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/5407560528?pwd=WKoRbZuhjamJ1doAYvzjBLcIiDebHF.1
