Alfred Al Koppel, who escaped Nazi Germany at 14, passed away Jan. 27, 2013, in Fort Collins. Rabbis Ben Newman and Shoshana Leis officiated at the Jan. 29 graveside service at Rose Lawn Cemetery. Goes Funeral Care made the arrangements.
A memorial service will take place Sunday, March 3, 2 p.m., at Har Shalom in Fort Collins.
Honor was his habit, Mr. Koppels family said. He was a just man. That was his path through life and we were all elevated by the journey.
So downtrodden in youth and so uplifting in later life, he brightened the lives of so many because his spirit soared. He made us better people.
Mr. Koppel was born Sept. 13, 1926, in Hamburg, Germany.
In June, 1941, he and his brother Walter, 13, escaped Nazi Germany and came to Brooklyn where they were reunited with their father, who was driven out of Germany in 1940.
The day after Mr. Koppels arrival in the US, he was hospitalized and diagnosed with TB.
He traveled alone to National Jewish Hospital in Denver for treatment.
Cured after three years, he learned English, completed high school and won a scholarship to CU.
When Mr. Koppel found out that the Nazis murdered his mother, two brothers and two sisters, he was so traumatized that he couldnt speak about it for 50 years.
At CU, Mr. Koppel met Jean Herbert and began a new life. They married in 1947 and had five children, Karla, Morgan, Katie, Craig and Mitchell.
An executive sales manager in the international furniture division of the Samsonite Corp., Mr. Koppel traveled the world.
He never had a place he thought of as his home. Family was home. In 1993, Mr. Koppel and Jean found a home when they moved to Fort Collins.
Mrs. Koppel passed away on May 7, 1997.
A talented painter, Mr. Koppel began confronting the horror of his youth in his later years. Successive trips to Germany led him to Lithuania, where stood at a desolate ravine called the Ninth Fort, site of his familys murders.
In 2010, Mr. Koppel wrote the book, My Heroic Mother: Voices from the Holocaust.
Mr. Koppel is survived by his children Karla, Craig and Mitchell; seven grandchildren; one step grandchild; and two great-grandchildren.
He was predeceased by his son Morgan and daughter Katie.
Contributions may be made to National Jewish Hospital or the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC.
Copyright © 2013 by the Intermountain Jewish News
