Judith Stupel

Judith Jutta Stupel, closed her eyes one last time in her Surfside, Fla. home before leaving on her next great adventure Thursday evening, Apr. 25, after an indomitable four-month challenge with cancer.

Her son Eric Stupel and daughter Karyn Begin Brooks were beside her when she left.

"Jutta" was born in Wiener Neustadt, Austria during the early days of World War II. Her often told stories of growing up in difficult times taught her children and grandchildren the way to look at insurmountable odds with a smile and realization that things could be worse.

She found her first escape in the back pages of a magazine's classified ad. Letters to a German x-ray technician in New York led Fred Stupel to Austria where the two became man and wife after a short engagement. She emigrated to America with her husband where they eventually settled down in Miami Beach, Fla., and raised their two children. Judith and Fred owned and operated the Ocean Breeze Apartment Building for 29 years. Summers were typically spent in Europe where Judith, Fred and their children rejoined their European families. In 2000 they sold the business and enjoyed retirement in Surfside. Fred died in 2003.

Judith continued to enjoy life in Surfside. She often traveled with her son Eric and daughter Karyn on family trips. The world was her oyster and there weren't many corners of the globe she didn't get to visit. Over the past few years, she took to writing her stories down on an old I Pad and eventually finished a book about her life. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last December when she went to the hospital for stomach discomfort. Shortly after her diagnosis, her children presented her a self-published copy of her book. She kept it near her bedside. Her daughter read passages from the book to her moments before she passed.

Judith is survived by her son Eric, his wife Mirella, granddaughters Alexandra and Leyla and grandson Mark; and her daughter Karyn, her husband James Brooks, grandson Joshua Begin and granddaughter Jessica Begin; her sister, nieces and nephews in Austria.