Vada Kay Straker

Vada Kay Wood Straker, 98, died peacefully on August 14, 2025. Born on November 11, 1926, in Lima, Ohio, she remained a good and sturdy Midwesterner her entire life – she had a strong work ethic, was fiercely loyal, and stepped in to help when needed without overstepping. And while she often kept her opinions to herself, she was never at a loss for a stock phrase to meet most situations in life.

Vada was raised in Rimer, Ohio, by her parents Louis R. Wood and Faye Martha Brown Wood. She graduated from the nearby Vaughnsville High School. After graduation, she worked in the larger metropolis of Lima, where she met her beloved husband, Kenneth Cornell Straker, while the two worked at Sears. They married on Groundhog Day in 1950, and remained married until his death on their anniversary in 2001. Of her immediate family, Vada was the last one standing – she was predeceased by her son, Dale Michael Straker, her daughter-in-law Susan Reis Straker, her sister Mary Martha Wood Berger and her husband James F. Berger, and her brother-in-law Ron Straker and his wife Cheryl Straker.

In no particular order, she loved Ohio, Germany and France, where she got to live for several years during Ken’s service in the Air Force, her dogs Pip, P2, Sammy, and Holly, the Lunch Bunch, travelling around Europe, Oktoberfest, reading a good book, and attending Oak Hill Bible Church. More than all of these, however, she loved her husband and her son, her grandson, Ryan Straker, her nieces and nephews, Melissa Straker Dean, Daniel and Douglas Straker, and Randy, Ward, Marta, and Vada Berger, and their families, and her special friends, Nancy Boyd, Nancy Crowther, and Mary Brown. They all loved her, too.

A graveside service for Vada will be held Friday, August 22, 2025 at 2:30 located at Fort Sam Houston national cemetery Shelter 3, 1520 Harry Wurzbach Rd, San Antonio, TX 78209.