Edit Zosel Abbott; Retired Secretary

Edit Zosel Abbott, a retired secretary, died Sunday after surviving ovarian cancer for the last 32 months. She was 70.

She was born July 27, 1929, in Leipzig, Germany. She experienced life during Adolf Hitler’s reign, labor camps under Soviet occupation, heavy farm work in postwar Bavaria and the boom years of postwar Germany.

For more than two decades she was a secretary for a German construction firm.

In 1969 she met Richard Abbott, and in 1971 the couple moved to America. They were married in August of that year.

Her husband said the 1970s were the happiest years of their life together. They traveled throughout America and Europe.

The couple bought a home in Ventura in 1973. Edit Abbott’s pride and greatest joy was her garden and the couple’s animals. She also liked skiing and tennis.

Richard Abbott said his wife loved Ventura as much as her homeland. She often told him, “The best part of any trip is coming back to Ventura and our little house.”

She also became an artist in pen-and-ink and watercolor. Her favorite subjects were flowers.

She worked as a senior secretary for Ventura’s Vetco Offshore Petroleum for 13 years, retiring in 1987.

In addition to her husband, Edit Abbott is survived by a sister, Arntrud Halgard, of Munich, Germany.

A memorial service is scheduled Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Ted Mayr Funeral Home in Ventura, which is also handling the arrangements.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Abbott’s name may be made to the Humane Society of Ventura County, P.O. Box 297, Ojai, CA, 93024.