Anthony Toepfer, 1947-2025

There were 5 brothers: Mike (Thomas Michael), Tony (Anthony Albert), Danny (Daniel Willy), Andy (Andrew Louis) and John (John Quincy). Tony was the local brother, living just down the street in Cambridgeport in the 1970s when I first moved to Vermont.

At that time he was the proprietor of the File and Hammer in Bellows Falls. In the 1980s he moved his store to Keene, New Hampshire, and it blossomed into a hub of jewels and the arts in the downtown.

Tony was diagnosed with stage 4 renal carcinoma in 2013. At the time it was suggested that he had perhaps two years to live. He went to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston for a second opinion, where he was told that while they could not cure him, they could help him. He was treated with the most cutting-edge medical know-how available, and with kindness, respect and humor. He lived for eleven more happy, vibrant years.

At the beginning of 2024, he was told that he had run the gamut of experimental treatments. He stopped treatment, entered hospice, and put his affairs in order (or so he thought). It wasn't a great year, but he was surrounded by love and care, and until the last week or two he was lucid and engaged.

It was a life lived well, surrounded by beauty. He was universally loved and respected, and he treated everyone with kindness and respect.

Throughout 2024, I had been visiting regularly, to spend time with him while I could, to give his partner and care-giver Debra a break. I was blown away when he asked me to write his obituary. Of course I did! You can read it here.

Dana Farber Cancer Institute

Home Healthcare, Hospice & Community Services