Vicky Sue Woody

born in Raton, New Mexico to parents Rose Ortiz King and Calletano Ortiz on June 7, 1948 and

grew up in Butte, Montana. She continued to have an affinity to Butte and loved visiting

relatives and friends there every chance she got. Skiing Discovery Mountain in the winter and

enjoying the music of the folk festival in the summer, were a few of her favorite Butte activities,

but nothing topped the time she spent with loved ones in her treasured hometown.

Vicky was a self-made woman who was unafraid of a challenge. She obtained both her real

estate and broker’s license and ran a successful real estate brokerage, The Property Shoppe,

throughout the 1980’s with her best friend, Darlene Sharp and her husband, Russell “Moe” Pryor.

Vicky then decided to pursue higher education and went to college, starting from scratch in 1987

and obtaining an Associate of Science degree from Mt. San Jacinto College in 1989 before

transferring to California State San Bernardino, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in English

as well as a Bachelor’s degree in liberal arts in 1991. Later, she topped off her academic

achievements by earning a Master’s degree in education.

From there, she was hired by Hemet Unified School District in 1991 as a substitute teacher and

quickly made the transition to full-time classroom teacher the next year, where she spent the next

27 years. To say she was a founding member of West Valley High School is an understatement.

She began at WVHS when it was still known as Hemet Junior High and made the transition to

the “new site” on Mustang Way, where she taught English until 2019. She was a Mustang

through and through and embodied the adage “once a Mustang, always a Mustang.” In fact, she

believed in her school and loved her students so much that she recruited her own daughter to

teach there, where they enjoyed teaching two doors down from each other for 14 years until

Vicky’s retirement in 2019.

Vicky is preceded in death by her father Calletano Ortiz, who passed in 1998, and by her mother,

Rosemary King, who passed in 2023, a week prior to Vicky. She is also preceded by her late

husband, Russell “Moe” Pryor, with whom she spent a lifetime creating memories, stories, and

sharing laughter and love. All who knew them understood that theirs was a love that only

happens when two people find each other as soulmates.

She will be missed by all she left who remember her quick wit, quick smile, and no-nonsense

outlook. Left behind are her daughter, Kimberly Hyde, son-in-law, Robert Hyde, granddaughter,

Natalie Sanden, and grandson, Conner Hyde. Also survived by Vicky are her brother Bruce

Ortiz, niece Courtney Lopez, nephew Jeff Ortiz, and husband John Woody.