Antinette ('Toni' (Witte)) Peikes

Antoinette (Witte) Peikes, age 94, of West Hartford, CT, formerly of Brooklyn, NY, passed away December 29, 2017. She was born in the Bronx to Myron and Carrie (Kahn) Witte. Toni, as she preferred to be called, graduated NYU with a business degree in 1944. She married Arthur Peikes in 1952 and as she liked to say “lost my Witte (maiden name) when I got married.” . She went to work for Friedman & Distillator, her family’s millinery fabric business in NYC. At age 55, Toni bought out the other partner and managed the company. She expanded its line to custom-made lamp shades, picture frames and high-end trims for opera and ballet productions, with the help of her husband Arthur and her good friend Janice Boone. She sold the business at age 82. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy displaced her from her ancestral and marital home in Brooklyn and she came to live in West Hartford with her son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren. After her Brooklyn home was repaired, she summered there with the help of Janice Boone. She spent the remainder of the year in West Hartford where a focus of her life became the West Hartford Senior Center and the friends she developed. She transitioned to Atria Hamilton in West Hartford for the last 14 months of her life where she made many adoring friends and received exemplary care from the wonderfully supportive and diligent staff. Her passions included the New York Times, progressive political causes, opera & her “treasures” (grandchildren). Toni was predeceased by husband Arthur, daughter-in-law, Jodi and her brother Selwyn. She leaves her children Wendy Peikes of Cupertino, CA & Ronald Peikes of West Hartford & grandchildren, Katie Peikes of DE, Samantha, Jonathan & Claire Peikes of West Hartford and her sister-in-law, Edith. Funeral services will be held graveside at 11 AM on January 3, 2018 at Mt. Ararat Cemetery, 1165 Route 109, Lindenhurst, NY 11757. The family will receive family and friends at her son’s house at 7 Fairway St., West Hartford from 7 to 9 pm on Thursday, January 4, 2018. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Solomon Schechter Day School and/or Temple Beth El, both of West Hartford. Arrangements are entrusted to Weinstein Mortuary, Hartford. For further information, directions or to sign the guest book for Toni, please visit online at www.weinsteinmortuary.com/funerals.cfm.

Service Date: 01/01/1970