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Abigail (Abbye) Siscovick Sperber passed away peacefully at home on April 16, 2020, at age 75 after living with Parkinson’s Disease for more than half of her life. She was born in Baltimore, MD on March 9, 1945. Abbye raised her family in Portsmouth, VA along with her ex-husband Dr. Edward Sperber and was a part time teacher, moving to West Palm Beach, FL in 1995 and Chapel Hill, NC in 2007.

Abbye had an adventurous spirit combined with a commitment to helping others that never wavered. She marched for civil rights and worked with underserved populations. She moved to Israel following the Six Day War in 1967 to work with displaced children from the Jewish diaspora and disadvantaged Israeli children in youth villages. Following her year in Israel, Abbye traveled extensively on her own to the Soviet Union and throughout Scandinavia. She never let her condition diminish her excitement to travel and enthusiasm for adventure. She traveled to several countries with her daughter, including another visit to Israel in 2015.

Abbye’s art history studies at the George Washington University in Washington, DC gave her an appreciation of beauty and informed her strong aesthetic sense. She had a flair for style and high fashion. She loved to dress above the occasion with marvelous accessories. Abbye expressed herself through black-and-white photography, developing her own film in a darkroom to achieve the look she was after. She was known to experiment with art forms, having won several photography awards, including from the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach for an artistically developed photo of her various Parkinson’s medications. She also incorporated design elements into her room at the DuBose Health Center, transforming a single bedroom into a cozy, modern studio-like apartment that had her signature traditional yet updated style.

Abbye’s love, most of all, was her family. She filled her room with photos of her children, grandchildren, parents, siblings, cousins, nieces, and nephews. Abbye never wanted to miss a family event or celebration, and truly relished these moments. A testament to her kind, warm personality, Abbye’s family went beyond her blood relatives to include those who cared for her at DuBose and elsewhere, with several of them inviting her to their own family celebrations, which she, of course, attended.

Overall, Abbye had a zest for life that overcame her Parkinson’s Disease. The Palm Beach Post ran an article about Abbye after she entered a singing contest, despite a whispery voice, to win Frankie Avalon tickets saying, “Her tenacity so impressed us and officials at the Kravis Center that two more tickets were provided and arrangements were made for her, too, to meet Avalon.” The article ended with Abbye declaring, “I must persist. … I have no choice. It’s sink or swim.”

Abbye is predeceased by her parents Dr. Milton and Mrs. Bernice Siscovick, her stepfather Mr. Henry Zetlin, and her son Alexander Sperber. She is survived by her two siblings, Dr. Harriet Davidson and Dr. David Siscovick; two step sisters, Ilene Brave and Linda Isen; four children Dr. Nina Sperber (and Darrell Fruth), Kate Sperber, Leslie Sperber (and Michael Lamb), and Gabriel (and Mary Helen) Sperber; five grandchildren, Beatrice and Evan Fruth, Zachary and Alexander Lamb, and Colette Sperber; and five nieces and nephews.

The burial took place on Sunday, April 19 at 12 at the B’Nai Israel Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland. In lieu of sending flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation in support of Parkinson’s research.