Brigitte Frieda Deal

In Loving Memory of Brigitte Frieda Deal. Brigitte Deal, was born in Pforzheim, Germany on January 6th, 1937. She was the only daughter of Oskar and Frieda Gassmann, and sister to Rudi and Oskar Gassmann. Her amazing life began during the height of World War II, and she and her family survived the firebombing of her city late in the war. After the war, her family moved to Venezuela, where Brigitte began working at Siemens Corporation. Her gift of language was always an asset, as Brigitte spoke multiple languages, including German, English, French, Italian, Spanish, Latin, along with some Portuguese. She always made a point of talking to her acquaintances in their native tongues, something that endeared her to strangers throughout her life. Click on Link below to see pictures of Brigitte Deal Brigitte Frieda In Venezuela, she met her first husband, Emil Wagner, and they moved to America where they had three children: Mary Ann, Louis, and Brigitte. Their marriage ended, and she was alone in a foreign country with her three children. Brigitte met James J. Deal when her refrigerator began having problems. James owned his own appliance repair business, having worked on refrigerators and heavy cooling equipment at Breyer's in Newark, NJ. James was a 36 year old bachelor, and had never settled down, but he was smitten with Brigitte. He 'repaired' her refrigerator just enough to have it break down again, so that Brigitte would call him back for additional service. Meanwhile, Brigitte's family was asking for her to come home, and she booked a flight back to Germany with her three children. She actually returned home, but James sent her tickets to come back, and they married soon thereafter, in 1967. James J. Deal was extremely ill at the time of their marriage, and for years thereafter. Even though Brigitte had been told not to have any more children after difficult child births with her three children, she wanted to give James his own child, and James G. Deal was born in 1970. Due to his illness, her husband was never able to work again, instead teaching himself to invest what little funds they had while Brigitte worked. She was a great worker, offered promotions and advancement while at JCPenney. She had a passion for real estate. She was real estate agent for several years with Century 21. In 1979, her son, Louis, was killed in a vehicle accident in Lubbock, TX while serving in the Air Force. Brigitte was devastated, and never was able to get past it. James was her rock, and together they managed to continue their lives together. Eventually, they were able to build enough funds for Brigitte to stop working, and James and Brigitte were able to spend all of their time together. They were soulmates, and loved each other's company. James started getting sick in 2003, and Brigitte took care of him until his death in 2006. She never got over the loss of James, and spent the remainder of her life looking forward to their reunion. Brigitte is survived by her son, James, who she lovingly called 'Jimmy', and her daughters Brigitte and Mary Ann. She has multiple grandchildren, including James' children Rudy and Louis; Mary Ann's children Sha, Stevie, Terry, and Charlie (deceased); and Brigitte's children Timothy and Crystal. She also has multiple great grandchildren, including (Sha) Tristan, Katelyn, Madison, Adelyn; (Stevie) Ashley and Steve, Jr.; (Crystal) Savannah, Ashley, Angel, and Christopher.She is also survived by her family in Germany, including her brother Oskar Gassmann, her cousin Brunhilde Benzinger, and her nephew Lothar Gassmann and his family, Anna, Tabitha, and Samuel.