Florence Troppe

    My mother was born in the Bronx, a first generation American. The earliest photograph I have with her (in it) is one with her parents, brother & sister at a New York beach in 1930's. The next photos are of her in her 20's, hair long & beautifully styled. (To her last days, she always had her hair done at her favorite beauty shop once a week!) She is standing, smiling, dressed to the nines! And often, her sister Diane is beside her. Before she met my dad, she was engaged to a handsome redheaded young soldier who sadly passed away during WWII. She sometimes joked with me that had she married him, I would have red hair!

    At Shifrin Family meetings, she met a handsome (far removed) cousin, my father, Isidore Cohen. They married on November 11, 1945. They followed my grandparents, Jacob and Mary Schiff to Akron, Ohio. They lived in a duplex apartment on Moon Street, a street where, I later learned, the grandmother of my future husband Steve also then resided! Mom worked for several years at the firestone Tire & Rubber Company as a secretary until my birth. (She also found a position there for her brother, Sol, that lasted till his retirement.) Daddy worked with Grandpa Schiff in fruit & vegetable sales - or, as it says on my birth certificate, he was a 'huckster'!!

   As Mom awaited my birth in 1950 at Akron General Hospital, she met her best friend for life, Mary Weldin. Mary was her roommate & awaiting the birth that same day of her son, Rodney! Years later, I discovered several crocheted purses. Mom actually did crochet back then in the hospital! (Never again! All through my life, she could not sew on a button or fix a hem! Her cooking skills were also limited as she never took time to read directions! What she cooked, she did well - but from memory!)

   Unfortunately, the marriage ended in 1952. The divorce about 1953. Not on a positive note. My mother was a social person, a lover of dancing, singing, clubs, Mah Jong, Bridge..... My father was a dreamer, a reader, an outdoorsman, a quiet man. He departed - to, as I so many years later learned, the Merchant Marine, then retired to San Antonio, Texas each summer; Cuernavaca, Mexico each Winter. The warm climates were necessary for his health & comfort as he had severe arthritis in his back. Often he traveled by Trailways busses, even coming through Akron. Maybe he even observed us. But we never saw him. Sadly. 

   His family in New York, especially his brother Al Cohen, knew his whereabouts & kept in contact. His sister, my Aunt Yetta, sent news of my sister & I, plus photos, to Al who forwarded them to Daddy. In that way, he kept us in his heart & thoughts. My mother attempted to locate him through the years, through various agencies, to no avail - as he paid her none of the court ordered child support. When Daddy died, his estate held in it all those accumulated monies that my mother then received. He was an honorable man.)

    My mother, sister & I moved into my grandparents' home (Jacob & Mary Schiff) at 719 Grace Avenue in Akron, Ohio. Mom hired in at the 6 story high M'Oneil's Department Store on Main Street in Akron. She became a top ladies fine shoes saleswoman. She could add up lists of sales figures with computed tax in moments - all in her head! Mom was so beautiful all of her life. Perfectly attired for work in the requisite black dress or skirt & top; high heels; hose. Clear, olive skin. Makeup. Coifed jet black hair. Long, manicured, brightly polished fingernails.

    Mom had several single or divorced lady friends, several of whom were co-workers. She would have a date once in a blue moon. It was difficult for a divorced woman with children in the 1950's & 1960's. Married women were surely jealous of her beauty & probably frightened a 'divorcee' would 'steal' their husband. But try she did to be in the social scene. She was an active member of Jewish War Veterans & Workman Circle (Der Arbeitar Ring). She went to social activities at the Akron Jewish Center. 

    She was a good mother. On her day off, Friday, she often picked us up early from grade school, then took us by bus or taxi back downtown. We would shop, then dine at one of the top restaurants on Main Street, usually Clarks or Iacominis. At the restaurants, we kids would order & she would dine off what we would not eat entirely. (She referred to herself as the 'human garbage can'!) The restaurant family owners knew her & us, & they always treated us royally. They would even have the bartender make us our own 'cocktails' - Shirley Temples (cherry syrup, 7-Up, a cherry & an orange slice)! We thought we were big girls!! Waiting for the bus home, we might then stop at the Mr. Peanut store for bags of freshly roasted nuts!

    On Saturdays, we might take the bus downtown - by ourselves! Mom would walk us to one of the grand movie theaters nearby to see cartoons & a classic movie. She would generously tip an usher to keep an eye on us for safety! 

    On Sundays, Mom would sleep in till noon. Then we would walk to and picnic at the nearby Akron Zoo; or walk to & visit Aunt Yetta Fine or her daughter-in-law Cousin Helen Fine in their homes. Sometimes, we would stop by Tony's Pizza or the nearby Deli, both another walk away. We walked. We sang. (Ironically, 'Oh My Papa' was a favorite.) We talked. She snapped many photos through those years. My photo memories. Yet the ones in my mind are still so clear.

    Mom dedicatedly took us to synagogue. We went to Sunday School. I attended Hebrew School. Each summer, she would arrange for us to go to camp. When very young, we attended day camp at the Akron Jewish Center. When older through 7th grade, she made financial arrangements with the JCC for us to go to 2 month long overnight camps in places like Cincinnati, Ohio & Ann Arbor, Michigan. Oh, how I hated camp. But it was explained how good it was for us. After the 4th week of camp, there was a family visiting day. She & Grandma would always come. Mom took her own vacations those summers, usually to her sister in New York or cousins in Florida or Montreal. I remember one summer in Florida, she fell asleep in the sun. Such burns!  

    I remember Brownies. Girl Scouts. Having each of our portraits done in charcoal by a local Akron artist, Alice Laufer Lawrence when I was 12. Yet in 1962, after 6th grade, our world suddenly changed. We moved to Baltimore, Maryland. Mom suddenly married a friend from her youth. The marriage was a sad mistake & over soon after it took place. We moved into an apartment. Mom sold shoes at a major downtown department store, Hahns, until I finished 7th grade. We returned to Akron by car. She had learned to drive by then (but never drove well or safely!!).

    Newly divorced again, she returned to work at the M'Oneil Company. In time, I graduated from high school, began university & married Steve. Times changed at the department store. She saw the changes & took a job at a small shoe store nearer to home. Financially, life was difficult. One day, she called & told us she was bringing her fiancee' to supper at our home. Steve & I looked at one another & exchanged, "Oh no, she must be developing hardening of the arteries. What shall we do?!" She'd never spoken of dating - anyone. But, by golly, she brought us Joseph T. Troppe; the best guy, the perfect man, her match made in heaven! 

    Her best friend, Mary Weldin had introduced them as both were originally from New York! Joe was a widower of several years. He had moved to Akron to purchase a hotel in his retirement from his former employer. Joe was funny, worldly, had traveled widely, was social, friendly, a jokester, loved to eat.... and they married in April of 1972. We were ecstatic! Suddenly, I had 2 stepbrothers & 2 stepsisters - though it was only Jay Troppe I have come to know well over these many years. They were together 18 years. They traveled most memorably to Israel. They ate out daily! While Steve & I lived in Akron, we often joined them starting our own 'habit of dining out' that lasts through these days!)  Our dear Joe suddenly passed away after an abdominal aneurysm. But that good life; those great times; their memories gave her such a lifetime's worth of happiness until she passed, with an onset of Alzheimer's, in an Assisted Care Center in Akron, Ohio in 2005 & was buried along side Joe at The Workman's Circle Cemetery.

    I still miss my mother. In my teens, we often 'batted heads', so to speak. I was too much like my Dad (I later realized when I finally physically met him again after I married - not that she ever knew we came together!). 

   Steve & Joe delighted in teasing her till she'd throw up her hands, run from the room & cry. Sounds mean, but she knew it was in love & fun. She wore her heart on her sleeve. I admire her. She raised two girls the best she could - and I can honestly admit that my marriage to Steve made her happy and proud! May she rest in peace.