Valeska Nicholson

Valeska A. Nicholson, 94, of Mansfield, died Wednesday, August 19, 2009 at her home. Born August 15, 1915 in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin, she was the daughter of Frederick and Hilda Brandt Lambertus. She was a resident of Ohio since the age of three. Valeska received a Bachelor of Science degree from Bowling Green State University and a Master of Library Science degree from Kent State University. She served in secondary schools for 35 years. Valeska taught in Mt. Gilead High School and founded the high school library. She was the Media Specialist at the Ohio Media Center at Mt. Vernon High School. A great advocate for reading and higher education, Valeska's motto was "One keeps learning more and more each day until you die. Education is something no one can take from you!"

She is survived by two children, David Nicholson and his wife, Helen Danals Nicholson of Mansfield, and Diane Wilch and her husband, John Wilch of New Castle, Indiana; three grandchildren, Tamara Dave Hammond of Mansfield, Kimberly Chris Kordyl of Muncie, Indiana, and Jeremy Wilch of New Castle, Indiana; great-grandchildren, Makayla Thurman and Logan Hammond, both of Mansfield, Dylan Wilch and Arieanna Wilch, both of New Castle, Indiana, Timothy Kordyl, Elisabeth Kordyl, and Daniel Kordyl, all of Muncie, Indiana; and special friends, Austin Jepson of Whispering Pines, North Carolina, and Kathleen Tjalsma, and Mary Hammer, both of Mansfield. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death in 1988 by her husband of 49 years, DeWitt Nicholson; and three sisters.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, August 22, 2009 at the Ontario Home of Wappner Funeral Directors, 100 S. Lexington Springmill Rd., Mansfield. Friends may call from 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday at the funeral home. Burial will follow in Mansfield Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to North Central State College Foundation, P.O. Box 698, Mansfield, OH 44906 or Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Mid Ohio Chapter, 134 A-2 Northwoods Blvd., Columbus, OH 43235.