Aunt Vicki's Legacy
A lifetime of caring for the community
Vicki Lee Callin was born on 21 April 1943 to Bob and Nancy (Witter) Callin. Bob was an airman in the Army Air Corps (note the “Hap Arnold” star on his shoulder) serving at Luke Field near Glendale, and Nancy and Vicki probably spent a lot of time with her parents on their farm near Bethany Home Road.
They had my dad after the close of the war, and Bob went to seminary in Texas before returning to Arizona and finishing his degree at ASU and Grand Canyon College. Nancy also went to Grand Canyon to get her teaching degree, and after Dad and Vicki graduated, their whole family was celebrated as Antelope alumni in 1968!
Vicki married her first husband, Paul, on 31 May 1969. They had two sons and adopted a daughter. Once they were old enough, Vicki started teaching English at Peoria High School in 1984.
Vicki and Paul divorced in 1985 - my first memory of encountering a real-life divorce, and not just reading about it or hearing it discussed on Christian radio. She and Paul inadvertently taught me that divorce was not the family-destroying horror that I had been led to believe. It wasn’t an easy experience for anyone, but Vicki continued to run her home, manage her career, and raise three strong, happy adults.
Vicki eventually remarried Tom Hunt, and after she retired from teaching, she got into local politics. She was on the city council from 2003 to 2010 and 2014 to 2022. Vicki was honored as the 2023 Peoria Independent Hometown Hero for Lifetime Achievement, and you can read about her lifetime of community work and achievement on the Peoria Independent website, where they included a video interview with her.
Vicki was always the quintessential teacher, in my mind. She was a strong believer in her Christian faith who worked hard to strike a balance between walking her faith and giving other people room to walk theirs. When you hear her talk about God’s purpose for her in her interview, you see what drove her; but for her students and constituents, she knew to allow them the leeway to find their own way to their own purpose. As long as a person was doing their best to care for themselves and those around them, Vicki was there to support them.
She was always kind and generous to my children, even though we lived 2500 miles away in Baltimore and rarely got to visit. One of my favorite memories was our recent visit to Arizona in May 2022. Vicki took time to pull my wife, Kate, apart from the group to ask about our son, Lars. She knew we had taken him out of the public school system because the Baltimore County middle school he attended was not supporting his independent education plan after his autism diagnosis. She talked to Kate about her experiences homeschooling him and praised her for doing such a good job, getting him through his 8th-grade year and back into high school. The effect on Kate of having an award-winning educator recognize her accomplishment was profound, and we will always be grateful that she took the time to tell her that.
Vicki died unexpectedly on 25 July 2024. At 81 years of age, she was still taking care of her family, still thinking about their futures, celebrating a recent wedding and new careers.
Vicki will be missed - and in our family, that means that when we gather, we will swap stories about her, share her jokes, and through her, remember those who came before. And in her community, the people and programs she promoted will carry on. Visit the Oral History project at "What's Happen' 'n Art Movement" association to see part of her legacy.
Because carrying on is what humans do.
Follow up: Vicki's husband, Tom, passed away yesterday morning (13 August). We plan to join the family in Phoenix for the remembrance next week.
Carrying on IS what we do. I’m always astounded by how we do it, but we do. You’ve written a lovely tribute to your aunt.