
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, November 27, 1995                   TAG: 9511270076
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LISA K. GARCIA
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

CLOTHIER JACK ABELL DIES AT 79

Jack Mitchell Abell, former president of the Mitchell Clothing Co., died at his home Saturday three months after he was diagnosed with liver cancer. He was 79.

Mildred Abell, his wife of 52 years, said her husband had no warning about the cancer and could seek no medical treatment except hospice care.

She cared for her husband at home and helped him as he planned his funeral, she said.

The quiet man will be remembered by many who shopped at Mitchell's on Church Avenue in downtown Roanoke.

Abell began work there when he was 12 and delivered packages on his bike, according to Mildred Abell.

She said Abell left the business for 41/2 years to serve in the Navy during World War II as a fighter pilot on an aircraft carrier.

When he was discharged in 1945, he returned to the clothing store and worked there through 1983, when he retired.

Abell's adoptive father was Ernest Mitchell, who started the Mitchell Clothing Co. He died about 20 years ago, Mildred Abell said.

by CNB