Vicki Herd Winn

Vicki (Mom) was born September 14, 1942, in Ogden, Utah to Homer Cy Herd and Dorothy Hunsaker Herd. She was the first of six children. From a young age she grew into the loving, steady presence her family came to depend on.

The family moved to Preston, ID when she was two. She attended school in this area and she graduated from Preston High school in 1960.

Mom met Dad at a roadshow that they were both performing in. Mom always on the piano and dad on his guitar. Her mom was supposed to be picking her up afterwards, but she got a better offer when Dad proposed that he take her home. She accepted. As he was dropping her off, he asked her for a date. That began sixty-five years of love, the wildest children ever born and now, a painful separation for a short time. The reunion beyond the veil had to be glorious with all of the family members waiting for her return.

Mom and Dad married on March 31, 1960, in the Logan LDS Temple. Together they built a home filled with faith, music, and service—values she carried and tried her best to live and teach. They later relocated to Brigham city, Utah, where they raised their family and continue to reside.

She was a gifted seamstress and created college wardrobes for several young women. She made most of our clothes throughout the elementary years. Looking back now, what a sacrifice of time, talent and effort for each one of us.

She excelled at plastic canvas creations. From Hummingbirds to doll houses, her hands were always busy with crafts. She also created pottery and took tole painting classes from Lisa. She was a fantastic cook. Her gravy was perfect, her rolls so yummy. She could cook anything from scratch. Her wheat pancakes stuck with you for days. Dad would go deer hunting, get his deer and the next week was spent making Jerky and packaging the meat.

They canned so many things together like tomatoes, peaches, pears, cherries, and grape juice, just to name a few. One year the rubber hose broke as they were filling the jars with grape juice. Mom started yelling, “Garth! Garth!!” He looked at her as he was trying to find something to stop it, juice flowing everywhere and said, “I’m doing all that I can here!” We kids were horrified by the mess. We didn’t have messes in this house! They worked together to clean it up and all was well, except for the now purple linoleum that was previously white.

Everything had an order and she never had a hair out of place. She taught us all to never wear curlers in our hair or pajamas to any store. You look your best or you take the time to look your best before going. This was way before the “people of Walmart.” She was pretty horrified at some of the outfits she would see. If you were with her, she would lean over and loudly whisper, “Did you see what she was wearing?” Cracked us up every time.

Clean underwear was very important, just in case we got in a wreck or our dresses flipped over our heads in the wind, at least for the girls. The boys….Dear heavens, she just wanted them to stay clean!

A gifted pianist and singer, our mom shared her love of music generously. Whether she was playing the piano/organ at home, playing for her children to sing in church, singing with Dad, or teaching her children to appreciate the beauty of a melody, music was her way of connecting, comforting, and creating joy. How we loved to hear her play!

She played the organ for the majority of the wards she lived in and was the stake organist for quite a few years.

Dad and Mom spent many years serving at a two local care centers for their church callings. Many years were spent at Pioneer Care Center, followed by Maple Springs. They loved to serve others and this calling brought them closer as they served the older generation. They had such love for everyone they served and those they served with throughout the years and mourned each friend who passed.

Service to others defined who Mom was. Her life was spent quietly and faithfully lifting those around her—family, friends, and anyone in need. She leaves behind a legacy of compassion, strength, and unwavering devotion. The amount of soups and casseroles shared when others needed them was many.

Mom is survived by her six children, whom she loved deeply: Darren (Teri), Lisa (Doug), Stacey (Kirk), Brian, Karen (Steve), Kristen (Shaun) 15 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren, whom she loved dearly. Her sisters Voneal (Ray) Friess, Wendy (Kent) Jensen, her brother Bruce (Vickie) Herd, and Laurie (Mike) Petersen.

She was preceded in death by her beloved parents, her youngest sister Michelle Ransom (Kelly), her two grandsons Mike Winn and Parker Kelly. She mourned them all.

Mom did not want a funeral so there will be no services. If anyone would like to visit our Dad later on, he would truly appreciate it.

Fun memories we want to share:

Her Uncle Rollo played the piano with our mom starting about the age of 14. They enjoyed playing together, and did so for many years. They were both so talented and shared such a love of music.

Darren - when he was little, he stole two frosted raisin cookies from the package when mom’s back was turned and he hid around the corner. He took one bite of the cookie and she caught him. Mom promised she would give them back after dinner, but must have forgotten. Years and years later, he reminded her she owed him those cookies. She finally bought him a bag of M & M’s to make up for it and to shut him up. He may or may not be still holding a grudge.

Lisa - Mom always brought soup when she or her family was sick. She was truly a caretaker. Lisa excels at cooking as well, recreating mom’s shrimp dip recipe and we beg her to make it every holiday. Someone gets the last tiny bowl to go home with. Someone else goes home crying, bemoaning the wait for the next holiday.

Stacey- she loved singing with Mom and Dad. Their favorite song on the guitar to sing was “Whispering Hope.” Mom played for Stacey and a friend all throughout high school at many farewells. Just this year Stacey played that song for her husband on a road trip and he said it was a terrible song. She played it three more times in a row to help him change his mind. We can’t help it if he has bad taste in music.

Brian- when he was young, he was always crashing on his bike by the neighbors shrub. Each time Mom and Dad would run out with the same curse words to pick him up for more stitches. They left us a legacy of swearing. We all excel in this legacy. “Dammit it all to hell”, might as well be our family slogan.

Karen and Kristen - when the twins were younger, they were trying to pull one over on her and she said “I wasn’t born yesterday!” They looked at her and said “Yes, you were!” (It was the 15th of September, her birthday was the 14th, just the day before! ) they all had a great laugh and they never let her forget that. One day Mom was busy and asked Stacey to trim the twins bangs. Stacey had zero experience and no business around scissors, but accepted the challenge. By the time she was done, each twin had about an inch of hair left for bangs. The bonus? They had beautiful foreheads and their bangs were finally perfectly straight. To this day, Stacey doesn’t understand the problem.

We have so many more memories and have shared them over and over with each other the last few days. This time with her and Dad this last week has been priceless.

We will miss you, miss your laughter, the times you tried not to laugh at all of the inappropriate things we said for shock value and to get “that look.” The one look she had perfected and then the laughter she couldn’t hold back.

Dad is going to miss you so much. Sixty-five years of love, butting heads, and the competition of this last year, of who is the most stubborn. I think it might be a tie. Flip a coin to choose the winner!

We can’t thank the hospice team enough for their care of our mom. Jason, Misti, Jessie and Jill, all the hospice team, thank you is not enough. Thank you to the caring team at Maple Springs for helping us the last few days, caring for our mom with such grace and for our family So truly appreciated.

Dad said it best; this is not goodbye, we will see you later.

Care entrusted to Gillies Brigham Funeral Chapel.