Violet Mack Vahlkamp

(nee Mack) Born July 5, 1928 and died peacefully on Friday April 26th, 2013, at the age of 84. Beloved wife of the late Marcel (Val) Vahlkamp and mother to Nicholas (Barbara) Vahlkamp, Cynthia (Robert Kenyon) Vahlkamp, Michelle (David Wainwright) Vahlkamp, Gregory Vahlkamp, Mark (Anita) Vahlkamp, Chris (Elizabeth) Vahlkamp, and John (Elisa) Vahlkamp. Loving grandmother to Nicole, Alexi, John, Katie, Christopher, Marissa, Cameron, Katya, and Emily. She is survived by her brother Nicholas (Rose) Mack and sister-in-law Mary Ann (Charles) Heimann. Violet was aunt to 19 nieces and nephews and matriarch to an extended family that reaches across the U.S., Poland and Germany.

Violet was an alumna of the Beaumont High School class of 1946. She was a communicant at St. Ann’s where she was baptized and made her first communion, St. Margaret of Scotland (where she and Val were married on May 6, 1950), St. Roch, St. Joseph, the Lower College Church at St. Louis University, and the Auinas Institute of Theology.

Violet was preceded in death by her mother Felicia (Matyskiewicz) Mack of Bukowsko, Poland and her father Thomas N. Mack (born Nicolai Thomas Sidlow) of Wolen, Russia. She was also preceded by her dear brothers LTC (ret) Edward Mack and William A. Mack, and her sister Helen Marjorie (Mack) McNicholas.

Violet had an excellent eye for color and design and in the early years of the marriage she made clothing for her family. She was an enthusiastic gardener, often planting more than one hundred bulbs for the season. The garden was always beautiful because of her. Violet went on to be a founding member of the Gateway (St Louis) American Needlepoint Guild where she created needlepoint pieces that hung on the White House Christmas tree and also cover a bench in the St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Clayton, Missouri. Some things we’ll miss are the White House Christmas ornaments, her apple pies, and martinis.

Violet (and Val) were able to travel to many places both near and far. She particularly loved jewelry, a frequent memento of their travels. She often recalled her travels to China, Poland, Russia, Portugal, France, Turkey, Austria, Germany, and Estonia with great memories.

Memorial donations may be made to: Aquinas Institute of Theology. 23 South Spring Avenue | St. Louis, Missouri | 63108-3323 314.256.8800 | 800.977.3869.

Services: Visitation at Kriegshauser Mortuary West at 9450 Olive Boulevard, St. Louis from 4:00 to 8:00 Friday evening May 3rd. Funeral service at St Joseph’s Catholic Church, 106 North Meramec Avenue, Clayton, MO on Saturday May 4th, at 9:00 AM. Internment Calvary Cemetery located at 5239 West Florissant Avenue. Reception following at Charles Knight Conference Center on the campus of Washington University from noon until 4:00 PM on Saturday, May 4th.