Huguette Therese Viens Abbott
Huguette Therese Viens Abbott was born in Rougemont, Quebec, Canada, October 15, 1936, to Fernande Calixta Francoeur and Gustave Gregoire Viens. She immigrated to Vermont with her parents in 1937, growing up on a farm in North Fayston, Vermont.
Huguette often remarked her name meant “little flower.” She attended North Fayston Grade School and Waitsfield High School, graduating in 1953. She went to work at the Vermont State Hospital, helping her family with bills until she married Donald Edward Abbott in August of 1956. After her husband’s medical discharge from the Air Force and several moves around Massachusetts, the couple returned to Vermont in 1960 while awaiting the birth of their third child. An avid reader and lover of history, she taught her children by example with her love of beauty in music, art, and flowers, as well as telling them stories of the generations of people that went before.
The family of five eventually moved to Rochester, Vermont, for eight years. Hard financial times prompted them to move to Florida in 1969 for four years, then back to farm life in central West Virginia in 1973. Along with keeping the office for her husband’s construction business, and often lifting a hammer or other tools to assist, Huguette would also become an increasingly dedicated organic farm woman in West Virginia. Huguette suffered the loss of their farmhouse by fire in 1982, then her marriage in 1984, and loss of the farmland from bankruptcy.
Despite serious health challenges during the years in West Virginia, and discouraging losses, Huguette maintained an adventurous nature, eventually moving back to Florida briefly to obtain her CDL. With a partner she drove coast to coast, enjoying seeing much of the country and being on the road. Prevailing health problems caused her to stop driving truck, but a situation developed where she would take care of another truck driver’s children, eventually becoming their foster mother, then guardian, when her friend died unexpectedly.
Huguette raised them as her own when their family was unable to take care of them. Once these children were on their own, her love of family and Vermont prompted her to return in 1994 to North Fayston to aid in the care of her mother. Illness intervened, and in recovery she moved into a small independent apartment. She lived at Mad River Meadows for 27 years where she initially assisted taking care of others living in the same complex, as well as participating in historical society endeavors, senior citizens, and gardening.
Ever the voracious reader, eventually her love of history and stories prompted her to offer remembrances of her growing up in Fayston and the Mad River Valley. This developed into a monthly senior citizens’ column dubbed “About Town,” in The Valley Reporter. She volunteered for programs and attended her beloved WUCC congregation. Her consistent buoyancy and love of life helped her enjoy many friends, the closeness of her family, and her much deserved independence while growing the flowers that were always her trademark. She passed away in hospice care at Woodridge Nursing and Rehab in Berlin, Vermont, December 9, 2024, after a year of declining health.
She is survived by her sisters Nicolle Fleurette Migneault of Carmel, IN, and Jeannette Marie Nichols of Moundville, AL; her brothers Gregory Alfred Viens of Fayston, Francis Maurice Viens and wife Bethany Gake Viens of Medford, MA; her son Martin Gregory Abbott and wife Valerie Moore Abbott of Biglerville,PA, her daughter Margaret Carol Abbott and husband Robert Donald Colgan of Churchville, VA; her grandson Caleb Brooks Smith and wife Samantha Morgan Shaw of Ward, CO, her granddaughter Hanna Gail Sizemore and husband Nathaniel Dane Sizemore along with her two great-grandsons Duncan Michael and Tristan Wesley Sizemore of Green Bank, WV. She was preceded in death by her daughter Rose Marie Abbott Davis, and her brothers Leopald Armand Viens and Frederick Carl Viens of Fayston VT.
Her memorial service is set for May 10, 2025, at the Waitsfield UCC with time to be determined. Notice will be posted in The Valley Reporter in advance. Since Huguette loved flowers, they will be warmly received if sent. Internment ceremony will follow with the family in North Fayston Cemetery.
