“She really did love to ride horses, and she was a beautiful rider. She could really do it,” said Jagger Topping, speaking of his mother, Patricia Clarke Topping.
“Probably from birth, animals gave my mother a sense of security and well-being. Her first cat was called Diamond. I’ve heard about her childhood animals my whole life.”
With her husband, Alvin Topping, Ms. Topping founded Swan Creek Farms in Bridgehampton. She died on March 14 of lung cancer at her home in the hamlet. She had been ill for about a year, her son said. She was 76.
Born on April 22, 1945, in Oceanport, N.J., to Lawrence I. Clarke and the former Janice M. Smith, she grew up by the Navesink River in Rumson, N.J. Her father was president of the Atlantic Processing Company, which had a large menhaden-processing facility at Promised Land in Amagansett. “Summers were spent in Amagansett, so her father could be near the factory and his family could enjoy the beach,” said Mr. Topping.
His mother’s lifelong love of animals was evident early. She attended Connecticut College for Women before it went coeducational, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in zoology. She rescued dogs, cats, “and any other critter that needed a house,” said her son.
She met her future husband one Hamptons summer. “It was the typical young-adult story,” said her son. “They were partying, and ran into each other. The family line is that they met at the potting shed, back in the day.”
“My dad grew up on the [Topping] farm in Sagaponack, raising potatoes. There’s always been three dogs in the pickup truck and 10 cats in the barn.”
On Dec. 7, 1968, they married. Earlier that year, they had established Swan Creek Farms on the 37-acre Bridgehampton property. She taught riding, boarded horses, and competed at horse shows. A pony camp taught children not only how to ride and to care for the animals, but also how to protect their rural environment. Her children, Jagger, Gretchen, and Christian, all grew up on the farm and worked in the business with their parents.
“She loved to have a horse to ride. Loved to have kids to train. And was willing to do anything to make that a success,” said Jagger Topping. “When it was her time to compete, she could be a little edgy about it. It was important to her.”
“Both of my parents,” he added, “had very much that same trend in them, that having the animals nearby and working with the animals, gives them that feeling that they’re looking for, that feeling of comfort and safety and security, and accomplishment. The horses in particular give them that sense of accomplishment.”
“My brother, sister, and I shared equal spaces with horses, dogs, cats, chickens, rabbits, raccoons. Growing up in my parents’ house was like growing up in a zoo, but in a fantastic way. I don’t know any other way, and I can’t imagine any other way.”
Ms. Topping loved to write, he said. She also had an artistic side. “She loved doing all those kinds of homey things for the holidays. We’d always spend a night or two making Christmas tree ornaments. Or a night or two making things for Easter. She loved for all of us to be together.”
Ms. Topping was on the board of the Hampton Day School, now known as Hayground, and an active member of St. Ann’s Episcopal Church in Bridgehampton, as well as the Church of the Ascension in Rembert, S.C. “She loved her outreach with the church,” said her son. “She was on search committees to find new rectors. It was important to her.”
She is survived by her husband, who lives in Bridgehampton, as do her two sons, Christian and Jagger, and her granddaughter, Phoebe Topping. Her daughter, Gretchen Topping, lives nearby in Sagaponack.
She also leaves four siblings, Steven Clarke of Greenport, David Clarke of Amagansett, Lolly Clarke of Unionville, Pa., and Mike Clarke of Barnard, Vt.
A celebration of her life is planned, probably to take place at the end of April. Details will be announced. Burial was in Bridgehampton’s Edgewood Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the Animal Rescue Fund, P.O. Box 2616, East Hampton 11937, or online at arfhamptons.org.
