Abbie Roberts stands in front of the newspaper press at The Lincoln County News headquarters in Newcastle during a celebration marking the Roberts family’s 100 years of ownership in November 2020. Marrying into the family in 1951, Abbie Roberts worked side by side with her husband, Sam Roberts, serving as the newspaper’s editor or managing editor for almost 20 years from 1973-1993. (LCN file)
Surrounded by loving family, Abbie Roberts, 94, died at her home in Nobleboro on Sunday, Feb. 2, after a period of declining health.
Working hand in hand with her husband, the late Samuel E. “Sam” Roberts, Abbie Roberts was a member of the third generation of the Roberts family involved in The Lincoln County News. She served as the newspaper’s editor or managing editor for almost 20 years between March 1973, when she succeeded her mother-in-law, Dorothy Roberts, and her retirement in January 1993.
Calling Abbie Roberts “a good soul,” LCN’s longtime cartoonist Glenn Chadbourne said he deeply saddened by the news. Chadbourne, who started contributing to the newspaper in 1985, is the only remaining staff member not related to the family who worked with Abbie Roberts.
“More than working with her, I have known her my entire life,” he said. “She was a sweet lady and a pioneer in her field. There weren’t many women working in journalism at the time. She ran a tight ship and was really to be admired.”
Nat Barrows, publisher and editor of the Penobscot Bay Press, recalled meeting Sam and Abbie Roberts in the late 1960s. At the time, he was just getting started in his career, but the Roberts were already well on their way to becoming icons in Maine’s newspaper industry, he said. Together the couple made a formidable combination.
Barrows described Abbie Roberts as a reliable, positive person whose subtle smile warmed hearts, Barrows said.
“She was a steady, supportive presence; sometimes making her presence known,” Barrows said.
While Sam Roberts served terms as president of the Maine Press Association and what is now the New England Newspaper and Press Association, Abbie Roberts served as secretary for both organizations
The Roberts entered the Maine Press Association Hall of Fame together in 2002. Samuel Roberts died in 2018 at the age of 87.
Born in Waltham, Mass. on Jan. 15, 1931, Abbie Ann Henry attended Waltham High School and the Chandler School for Women, graduating in 1948 and 1950, respectively. She worked as a bookkeeper in the Copley Plaza in Boston before she married Sam Roberts in Waltham on Aug. 11, 1951.
Moving to Lincoln County, the young couple settled in Edgecomb where, as a young mother, Roberts did collating work for the family business at home. Later the family moved to the Nash House on Bristol Road in Damariscotta, a short walk from the LCN offices, which were then located on Church Street.
When Sam Roberts helped start the Central Lincoln County Ambulance Service in January 1972, Abbie Roberts served as one of the service’s first attendants and was the service’s first bookkeeper. In the early days, calls for the ambulance service were routed to the LCN office during the daytime hours and to the couple’s Damariscotta home at night.
Away from the office, Abbie Roberts was a Girl Scout leader and she was a member of the Damariscotta-Newcastle Lions Club, the Damariscotta Historical Society and the Damariscotta’s Massasoit Engine Co.’s Fire Flies.
Along with her husband, Abbie Roberts volunteered with the Miles Memorial Hospital League rummage sale for years and she was longtime member in good standing of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, regularly contributing her handiwork crafts to the church’s summer fair.
According to her oldest daughter, Beverly Andrews, Abbie Roberts was a skilled and resourceful craftsperson. Family members would often get Christmas gifts of homemade candy and Abbie Roberts regularly knitted and sewed clothes for her four children when they were growing up.
Andrews said her mother’s example of resourcefulness and being active in the community lives on in her four children, all of whom follow her example in their own fashion.
“Examples of our upbringing are visible in all of us and continued into the next generation,” Andrews said.
In retirement, the Sam and Abbie Roberts purchased a seasonal home in Isle of Palms, S.C. and traveled with the seasons. The couple also enjoyed traveling by RV and took several trips to Alaska and Florida.
During the summer months, the couple regularly visited the LCN’s office, now located on Mills Road in Newcastle.
The family is planning a service for Abbie Roberts at 11 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 17 at the Strong-Hancock Funeral Home, at 612 Main St. in Damariscotta. A reception will follow the service, also at the funeral home.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation in Abbie Robert’s memory to the Damariscotta Historical Society, P.O. Box 1154, Damariscotta, ME 04543; or the Ecumenical Food Pantry, P.O. Box 46, Newcastle, ME 04553.
