Carl was born on April 4, 1923 in Wortham, Texas, the son of Joe T. Abel and Margaret (Rogers) Abel.

Carl was a veteran of WWII, having served in the U.S. Marine Corps in the S.W. Pacific campaign on Guam. After the war Carl completed college and started a life long career in Masonry. Carl and his wife Jan were long time residents of Amarillo, Texas where Carl owned and operated a successful Masonry contracting business until his retirement at age 73. In 2000 Carl and Jan moved to Sugar Land to be near family.

Carl made many new friends in Sugar Land with his big smile and was always offering a strawberry candy to anyone he met.

He is survived by his wife of 42 years, Thelma Jeanette Abel; daughter and son-in-law, Carolyn Reed and Joseph Logue of Sugar Land; son and daughter-in-law, Royce and Louene Keeling of Princeton, Texas; two grandchildren and four great grandchildren.