Once upon a bright October moon, October 16, 1943, somewhere between reality, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and the place where fairies dance, a little girl named Mary Ann was born to LeNora Jones Walker and JR Walker.

Not realizing she was sprinkled with fairy dust; her mother gave her a perfectly normal name. However, a perfectly normal name didn't quite fit this child who lived just this side of make believe. As a little girl, she danced in the "fairy dust" of the sunbeams and entertained her aunts and grandmother with imaginative stories. She was such a precious little girl, they dubbed her "Toppy," from a storybook they had read and it stuck.

Her parents are now in Heaven but her siblings, whom she loved dearly, are Richard Walker and his wife Theresa Walker; Jane and her husband Bob aka "Heavy" Mabe and Bobby Walker and his wife, Vicky plus all of her nieces and nephews. Toppy was extremely creative and an artist. She loved sewing, painting, reading, telling stories, singing, dancing, camping and strawberries. She adored strawberries.

Toppy had 4 children who, to her delight, gave her 7 grandchildren and 8 ½ great grandchildren, all of whom she adored. She taught her children and their friends to love everything God created, even the not so lovable things.  She was their greatest cheerleader and would not allow them to say they couldn't do something because she believed they could do or be anything "they set their minds to".

She had her oldest son and daughter at a very young age and they grew up together with the help of her mom, aka Granny. Her son, Tony and his wife Debbie McDougle of North Carolina have three children; Lynnea and her husband Jim Myers of Kingwood, TX, their children Cole and Kahlan; Anthony McDougle of N. Carolina; and Chelsea and her husband Russell Wooten of S. Carolina with their children Raelynn, Sayge and another baby due soon.

Shawna and her husband, Ron Novak have two daughters; Kylie and her husband Tyler Bradfield of College Station, TX and their daughter, Kinsley. Their second daughter, Krista Novak, also lives in College Station, TX.

Toppy's second son, Jim McDougle, lives in Hempstead and has two children, Lauren and her husband Billy Spencer of Santa Fe, TX and their boys Eli, Kace and and Rhyatt; and Jacob McDougle of Galveston, TX.

After marrying Eric, his children, Holly Swaim of Illinois and Bryce Swaim who lives in Heaven now, joined their family.

Toppy's children and their friends loved having a magical, imaginative Momma who led them in tales of a world where fairies met in mushroom fairy circles, taught them how to pretend to dance with the man in the moon, and view the world through creative eyes. When they would cry, she cheered them up by showing them how to look at the world through "squinty eyes" to see a beautiful, starry world that could only be seen through tears.

Eric Swaim, her husband of 37 years, and Toppy lived in Hempstead, TX.  In 2006, Toppy and Eric chose to grow their family with a precious baby girl, Mia Swaim, who was the joy of Toppy's life. Toppy also adored her little dog, Lily. Mia and Lily helped to keep Toppy's mind off of the medical struggles she dealt with daily and reminded her of the magic and laughter in life.

Toppy worked as the theater box office manager and costume designer for College of the Mainland's theater department and loved her theater family. Toppy and Eric belonged to a motorcycle club and served on the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo team for many years and became close to their HLSR family.

For the past 20 years, Toppy exemplified strength and courage as she battled an autoimmune disease which led to kidney failure. She battled breast cancer and various other illnesses and infections before receiving a donor kidney in 2010.  However, that was not the end of her battle with kidney infections which ultimately was what caused the end of her life here.

Toppy learned about Jesus and named Him as her Lord and Savior as a young girl. This love for her Lord was the best gift she could give her children.

On Friday night, June 25, 2021, Toppy went to sleep to dream of a perfect world where she didn't have to make believe she was healthy and happy. She stepped out of the pain of her 77-year-old scarred and broken body and awoke to look into the smiling eyes of her Savior, Jesus.

She placed her hand in Jesus' hand and stepped into her True Love's arms. She danced with Him all the way Home across a big, beautiful "Strawberry Moon" that God had created especially for His fairy dust sprinkled, strawberry girl.

Toppy would not want you to weep for her because sadness doesn't fit into a fairy tale world. Although, if you do, use your tears to do "squinty eyes" and look for the starry, magical world of make believe she loved so much and think of her as you gaze at the next Strawberry Moon.

There will not be a formal service, of course, because that would be perfectly ordinary. In fact, if you had one, she would be late because she went everywhere on "Toppy Time." The only wish she had for a celebration of her life was to have a "Viking funeral" because of course it has to be an adventure. We aren't sure how, yet, but her sons want to make this happen.

Stay tuned…

Toppy is in the care of Canon Funeral Home.