Victoria Ann (Cole) Plambeck 1937 - 2016

LYREN, COLE, PLAMBECK

Posted By: Connie Swearingen-Volunteer (email)
Date: 5/18/2016 at 19:42:08

Sioux City Journal
1 May 2016

SIOUX CITY | Victoria Ann (Cole) Plambeck, formerly of Sioux City, died Saturday, April 23, 2016, at The Dobson Home Hospice of the Valley in Chandler, Ariz., of complications related to Alzheimer's.

Memorial services will be 11 a.m. Saturday, May 14, at Augustana Lutheran Church, 600 Court St., in Sioux City, with the Rev. Del Olivier officiating. Visitation will be 10 a.m. until service time Saturday at the church. A similar service was held on April 27 in Phoenix, Ariz.

Vicki was born on Aug. 21, 1937, in Sioux City, to George Amos Cole and Ellen Victoria (Lyren) Cole. She had one brother, Stephen (Lynda) Cole, of Owatonna, Minn. She was May Queen her senior year and graduated from Central High School in 1955.

She attended Iowa State Teachers College (now the University of Northern Iowa) in Cedar Falls, Iowa, earning her teaching certificate. This is where she met a very handsome man working on his master's degree, Frank Theodore Plambeck Jr. They were married on June 22, 1957. This year would have been their 59th wedding anniversary. Together they had four children, Theodore Plambeck of Phoenix, Laurel (Richard) Moore of Norfolk, Neb., Scott (Lila) Plambeck of Sioux City, and Kirsten (Malia David) Plambeck, of Phoenix. They also have six grandchildren, Amber Plambeck, Jeremy Plambeck, Austin Moore, Marissa Moore, Zachary Plambeck, and Isaac Plambeck.

Initially, Frank and Vicki lived in Manning, Iowa, and she taught grade school at Ar-We-Va Community Schools in Westside, Iowa. They moved shortly after to Savannah, Mo. In 1962, they moved back to Sioux City, when Frank got a band director's job at Leeds High School. Vicki stopped working for a few years to raise her four children, and then began her career in retail first at Bellas-Hess, and then with J.C. Penney. She also was head bookkeeper for the family business, VIP Swimming Pools. After J.C. Penney, she worked for Kalin's Indoor Heating and Cooling, and shortly after moved over to C.W. Suter. In her free time, she appeared/performed in several musicals with the Sioux City Community Theatre, and later LAMB Productions.

As their children grew up and left home, they began to think about retirement. Early in 1984, Vicki took a job in Phoenix to determine if this was where they wanted to live out their golden years...and the answer was yes. So in the fall of 1991, they put money down on a house in Mesa, Ariz., and sold their home in Sioux City to their son Scott. Their daughter Kirsten moved into the newly purchased home in Mesa, awaiting the arrival of Frank and Vicki. Frank retired from 30-plus years as an instrumental director/band school teacher in June 1993, and they "loaded up the truck and moved to Mesa."

Vicki worked for Enterprise Rent-a-Car from 1994 to 2002, at which time she completely retired.

Together, Frank and Vicki traveled the world. They loved cruises and traveled to over 50 different countries on 14 cruises. They met many people and developed great friendships on the cruises and kept in contact with most of them over the years. They wanted to share their passion for a cruise by inviting family to travel with them. All cruises ended in 2009 when it became difficult for Vicki to get around unassisted. During this time they also went on vacations in Frank's small single engine airplane. From 2009 to 2014, they made their way around via their Gangster Car, the Chrysler 300M. They made many trips back to the Midwest to visit family and friends. After the summer of 2014 it was too difficult to continue the travels.

Vicki loved to watch classic movies and musicals. She had a beautiful voice and loved to sing. Her favorite singer (besides her daughter Kirsten) was Robert Goulet.

She loved everyone, and would try to get everyone to like each other, and not say ill words to or about anyone. She was one of the most thoughtful persons you would ever meet. Her main focus was simply spending time with family and friends, and she would send a thank you card to them for just having had lunch or gone shopping with her. It was very important to Vicki and she often said, "just to get together is so wonderful."

She taught her family how to make Swedish pancakes and cinnamon rolls. She also made a mean TV dinner and pot pie.

She was also bold. Vicki took up golf and wore purple well before she was 60 years old.

When they moved to Arizona her license plate said ANGEL V, and her email address was AZIAAngel. She wore necklaces with angels, had angel lapel pins, and even coffee cups and napkins with angels on them. She seldom angered.

Vicki was an angel on earth.

She was preceded in death by her parents; and one infant grandchild, Tiffany Plambeck.

Cards and memorials may be sent to 716 S. Newton, Sioux City, IA 51106. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Alzheimer's Association.