DATE: Wednesday, May 14, 1997               TAG: 9705140460

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B10  EDITION: FINAL 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:   32 lines

GARLAND A. ABBOTT JR.

Garland A. Abbott Jr., 76, of the 300 block of Green St. died May 13, 1997, in a Portsmouth hospital.

Born in Norfolk, he was retired from Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. and also Snellings Funeral Homes. He was a member of Calvary Baptist Church and a U.S. Army veteran of World War II. A tenor banjo player, he was the leader of Garland Abbott and the Tidewater Playboys. He played on WTAR TV for five years and opened for all the country music shows that came to this area, including Elvis, Minnie Pearl, Jimmy Dean, Johnny Cash and many others. He received the Pioneer Country Award from the Virginia Country Music Associations, one of only four such awards given.

Survivors include his wife, Marion W. Abbott; a son, Garland A. Abbott III of Portsmouth; three granddaughters, Cynthia A. Byers and her husband, Roger, of Portsmouth, Lorie A. Stagner and her husband, Mike, of Atlanta, Tracy A. Morton and her husband, Bill, of Fairfield, Pa.; two great-granddaughters, Makayla Morton and Lindsey Byers; and a daughter-in-law, Sue Abbott of Portsmouth.

A graveside service will be conducted at 11 a.m. Friday by the Rev. Damon E. Wyatt and Dr. Phillip Martin in Meadowbrook Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends at Snellings Funeral Home, Portsmouth Blvd. Chapel, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday. Memorial donations may be made to Calvary Baptist Church Building Fund. ILLUSTRATION: Photo KEYWORDS: DEATH OBITUARY

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