Berte Toppell's Obituary
There were firecrackers when Berte Toppell was born on January first, 1922. She grew up in the annes follèe, the crazy years of the Jazz Age. She was the last of six children born to Kalman and Ita Luft. Like most Americans born in this era, they were rocked by the post WWl exuberance with its flappers and speakeasies of Prohibition and the dizzying fall into the depths of the Great Depression. After graduation from Tilden High School, Berte studied with a dentist, preparing for a life long battle with her children’s teeth.Those children began appearing after her marriage to Jack Toppell whom she met one weekend in the late and greatly lamented Borscht Circuit. They married with firecrackers going off on January first, 1942. After Jack’s medical discharge from the Army Air Corps, they brought their first born Ken and infant Dorothy to Miami where Cynthia was born. There they lived for the next twenty years.There were moves to Atlanta and Birmingham, before settling in Houston. Jack was a world class runner but couldn’t outrun the effects of Parkinson’s Disease and died in 1993. Berte stayed in Houston until ill health forced her move to Plano, Texas where she passed away on the Fourth of July, 2018, amidst the firecrackers. She was out of pain.She is survived by her children, Ken (Loretta) Toppell, Dorothy (Stan) Ramati and Cynthia (Murray) Brott. She had seven grandchildren, one for every day of the week, Scott Toppell, Brenna Vivier, Phillip Ramati and Alex Ramati. Joshua Brott, Ashley Trujillo and Russell Brott. This brood issued another eleven great grandchildren to the family firm of Jack and Berte Toppell.Any donations should be made to those that grab your heart.
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