Virginia Vittore's Obituary
Virginia Vittore passed away peacefully in her sleep on Wed, Nov. 16, fifteen days after her 100
year birthday party. It was her goal to reach 100 and have a party. In the days following, she
said she was ready for whatever comes next. She was born Nov.1, 1922 on a small homestead
in Benton, Arkansas, to John and Maud Hicks.
She met her future husband and our father, Peter Vittore, while he was in the army stationed at
Camp Robinson in Arkansas. They fell in love with each other at the local roller skate rink and
were married on May 25th, 1946 in Little Rock, Arkansas. From Arkansas they moved to
Chicago, Illinois, where dad started trade school and mom started a long career with
Southwestern Bell (AT&T corp.) as a toll operator. From Chicago, they moved to Santa Monica,
California, then on to Marysville, California, while mom continued to work for the phone
company. When dad got a civilian job with McClellan AFB in 1951, they moved to Sacramento.
At this time mom took a break from Ma Bell to raise a family, since she was pregnant with her
first child. She had 4 children: Dennis, Marty, and twins Karen and Carol. She returned to work
at Pacific Telephone (Pac Bell) in 1971 working and loving the graveyard shift, and continued
until her retirement in 1983. She was honored as a Pac Bell Telephone Pioneer.
She would start her day with a cup of coffee, black. And that coffee pot would be on all day
long. She loved to read. In every room, she had a book started. The house had walls lined with
shelves of books. The sunny windows were full of house plants, mostly African violets. Being a
child of the Great Depression, she couldn’t throw away any fallen leaf so she’d poke it in a pot of
dirt and it would grow.
She and dad loved to travel by car. After the kids were grown, they traveled in her beloved
Cadillacs. The big, red, 1980’s El Dorado was her favorite and it barely fit in the garage. She
loved to dance. During WWII she signed up as a taxi dancer. For a ten cent ticket a soldier
could dance with a girl. As a senior citizen she signed up with a line dance group, a special
group of senior ‘teenagers’ who loved champagne and dancing. She loved cats; all animals in
fact, but especially cats. If she found an injured animal, in a shoebox for nursing it would go.
She would set up heating pads or lamps, get up all hours to feed it or clean a wound until they
healed up.
There will be a viewing on Tuesday Nov. 29th from 3-6PM at Sunset Lawn on Marysville Blvd.
Her funeral service will be held the following day, Wednesday Nov. 30 at 1PM (since she was
NEVER a morning person) at Sunset Lawn.
She was preceded in death by her husband Peter, and son Dennis. She is survived by her
children: Marty and wife Lehua, Karen and husband David, and Carol; 7 grandchildren, and 5
great grandchildren.
What’s your fondest memory of Virginia?
What’s a lesson you learned from Virginia?
Share a story where Virginia's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Virginia you’ll never forget.
How did Virginia make you smile?
