Born July 31, 1972, in Toledo, Ohio, to Barbara and Bill Wahl, she came into the world round, pink and smiling, her eyes open and eager in a bubbling enthusiasm that was to mark all her days.
She grew up in Oregon, the adored only grandchild of Jeannette and Richard Mathews.
As a child, she was fearless, riding three-wheeled ATVs full throttle when not even 10. She loved the game Uno, slapping the winning card on the table with a triumphant “Hah!” as she beat the adults. She loved her black cocker spaniel Jamie and her German Shepherd Brutus; she loved Mountain Dew and unicorns; and she loved playing Fiesta with her friend Tammy. She thought nothing was better than a really good steak. And she loved the Tazmanian Devil cartoon, a whirling ball of energy and fun and jokes that was a mirror to her own personality.
She grew into a beautiful young woman, and one day Shawn Cuthbertson walked into her life, and, to the joy of her whole family, put a ring on her finger and became part of the family.
They were married in 1996.
“She changed my life,” said Shawn. “She was everything to me.”
She and her father, Bill, were two peas in a pod: same light hair, same blue eyes, same uptilted nose. They loved playing jokes on each other, vying for the rights to the last laughed “Gotcha!”
“She was the light of my life,” said Bill. “Just seeing her made my heart happy.”
When Vickie’s aunt – Barb’s sister – Shirley Mathews, was in town, the three of them would jump in Barb’s car and see the sights.
They usually wound up at the zoo, where Vickie would remind Aunt Shirley of the time when she was about 5, and Shirley wanted to win a photography contest. All day, Vickie gamely petted the noses of ponies, pointed at fish in the aquarium, waved at the chimps, her aunt exhorting her to tilt her head, look more that way, pet the pony just once more. Even at 5, she was a good sport in the face of adult idiocy.
“I used to sneak up behind her and give her a big squeeze and tell her she looked like she needed a hug,” said Shirley. Vickie would just roll her eyes and put up with that, too.
She and her mother talked almost every day.
“She was my best friend,” said Barb. “She filled up my life.”
All of her life Vickie’s late grandmother, Jeannette, had only one thing to say about her: “Vickie is just perfect.”
And this is how she will always exist in the mind’s eye of her family: Vickie is on that sunny upland, running, her arms flung out and her long hair streaming behind her. Laughter is on her lips as she races into the open arms of her beloved grandmother. When they turn their faces, they are smiling and happy.
Thank you, Vickie, for the gifts you lavished on all of us.
Survivors also include: mothers and fathers-in-law, Barb and Harold Cuthbertson and Joan Bair and Harold Cuthbertson; brothers-in-law, Dwayne (Kathy) Cuthbertson and Tim (Courtney) Cuthbertson; sisters-in-law, Cindy Cuthbertson and Julie (Travis) Dague; aunts and uncles, Mary (David) Rison, Robert (Jan) Wahl and Owen O’Neill.
Friends may visit Freck Funeral Chapel Wynn at Pickle Rd. (419) 693-9304, Monday, December 12, 2011 from 2-8 p.m. Funeral services will be held in the funeral home on Tuesday at 10 a.m. Burial will follow in Lake Township Cemetery.