Bernice Faith Birmingham

To the very end, Bernice showed her independence and resilience to keep going. She was a fighter! But on Tuesday, March 25th, she decided that the time had come for her, at 90 years of age, to say goodbye. Reflecting upon her full and rich life, we need to go back to her birth on September 13, 1934, in Queens, New York, to the late Sydney and Molly Cutler, following 2 years after her brother, Monroe, and 7 years ahead of her ‘baby’ sister, Gayle. Due to Sydney’s change in locations of work, the family lived in several towns, Shamokin, Pennsylvania; Decatur, Illinois; Evansville, Indiana; Nashville, Tennessee; and finally New Orleans, Louisiana. Following her graduation from West End High School in Nashville, TN, she went to Indiana University for a year majoring in languages, and then transferred to Vanderbilt University in Nashville for 2 years, which was followed by her first marriage. The couple moved to New York and settled in Long Beach, Long Island, where she began her professional career as an accountant at a travel agency. There her interest in travel expanded to the point that she became a travel agent, extraordinaire! A few years later, life changed for her, and she made a transition to Houston, TX to be close to Monroe and Jackie and her parents. And of course, she met the love of her life, Thomas (Tom) Birmingham, and took on the role of stepmother to 3 daughters. Quite a challenge! But she did it with patience and grace. It was also at that time when she made the move to Houston that her desire to work in the travel/leisure business continued and grew. She took on many positions where she managed and supervised travel for her clients, presented at travel conferences, and sold bookings on upscale cruise ships. Being a travel agent, she, herself, traveled around the world to places like Egypt, South America, Orient, Israel, Alaska, and Tahiti, to name just a few. In the 80’s, she and Jackie Cutler, her sister-in-law and good friend, founded Shangrila Travel with successful outcomes. Leisure travel was Bernice’s hallmark and passion. She loved the excitement of travel and new and challenging experiences. She also found time to be a member of Hadassah and an active attendee to Emanu El temple as well as accompanying Tom to his Catholic church services. It was typical of them to attend High Holiday services as well as Christmas Midnight Mass together. Bernice was preceded in death by her parents, husband Tom, and sister-in-law, Jackie Cutler. She is survived by her brother, J. Monroe Cutler and sister, Gayle Hersch. Her family includes three step-daughters; Regina M. Zorich, Shannon Manfredi, and Heather Beard and their children; Kurt Lee, Evan Zorich (deceased) and Erin Zorich; Ashley McCombs and Nicky Dayton (deceased); and Daniel Reineking, Kimberlyn Beard, and Noah Beard. Also, on the Cutler side, she was very close to her two nephews, Wayne Cutler and Brad Hersch, and two nieces, Faith Cutler Sheffield and Laura Hersch. The family would like to express their deep appreciation to the Miller Unit staff at Seven Acres Jewish Senior Care Services for their kind and caring service, as well as Vantage Hospice of Houston. A graveside service will be held on Sunday, March 30, 2025, at 10:00 AM at Emanu El Memorial Park, 8341 Bissonnet St., Houston TX 77074. In lieu of memorial donations, the family requests that donations may be made to MD Anderson Center (https://gifts.mdanderson.org/), Congregation Emanu El (https://www.emanuelhouston.org/give/), or a charity of your choice.

Bernice Faith Birmingham

September 13, 1934 - March 25, 2025