Young City Mother's Death Leads to Outpouring of Support

The untimely death of a young Portsmouth mother of four on Sunday is generating an outpouring of support via an online fundraising campaign.

Corie Jabre, 30, of Portsmouth passed away at Portsmouth Regional Hospital on Sunday following a respiratory illness. Soon after her death, Barbara Martinez, a family friend, launched the Corie Jabre Memorial Fund to help raise money to pay for her funeral and to solicit breast milk donations for her twin infants.

Nancy Notis, a spokesperson at Portsmouth Regional Hospital, confirmed Tuesday that Jabre passed away on Sunday, but she would not elaborate on the nature of her illness. Jabre's obituary says she died from "complications of pneumonia."

"At this point we are not releasing any information about the nature of the illness of the patient who was here," Notis said. "Our thoughts go out to the family."

Jabre's obituary says that she was born in Rochester and graduated from Portsmouth High School and Empire Beauty School in Portsmouth. She worked as a hairdresser at New Reflexions hair salon until she left to be a stay-at-home mom to her twin babies. In addition to her twins, she is survived by two other sons.

Memorial visitation will be held Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. and Saturday from 4 to 6 p.m. at the J. Verne Wood Funeral Home-Buckminster Chapel, located at 84 Broad St. in Portsmouth.

According to the Give Forward website, more than $10,500 has been raised so far for the memorial fund. The website has set a goal of $15,000 and indicates the campaign had raised 67 percent of that as of Tuesday afternoon. The fundraiser is scheduled to end on Jan. 19. The Jabre family also posted a message on the site expressing its gratitude for all of the support they are receiving at this time.

"The Jabre family wants to thank you all, so, so very much, for the incredible outpouring of support for Corie and her family. The initial goal of this fundraiser, to cover the cost of the funeral, has been met. This is incredible, and we thank each and every one of you. Any additional funds received will go straight to a fund supporting Corie's sons. I have raised the fund-raising goal with this purpose in mind. Again, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Sincerely, Barbara Martinez and Friends and Family of Corie Jabre"

Attempts to contact Martinez and Brandie Jabre on Monday and Tuesday were unsuccessful.

Portsmouth Patch will have more on this story as it becomes available.