Vicki Lee (Bean) Schoell

Vicki was born April 6, 1948, in Nampa, Idaho to Myrtle & E. Lee Bean. Lee worked for Toro irrigation as an engineer, and so she roamed the West with her family: from Nampa, Caldwell, and Twin Falls ID; to Spokane and Edmonds WA. Once she moved out on her own, she continued her travels, from San Jose CA; Port Washington NY; Wilton CT; and finally Margaretville NY. She started her working career at Boeing as a secretary, then moved on to sales at IBM (Selectric typewriters) for 15 years, eventually becoming a National Technical Support Rep in the Office Products division. In 1976, she moved to NY where she met me, her husband Josef, on the Long Island Railroad. Within 9 months we were married (I also proposed on the LIRR). She gave up her career to become the best stay at home Mom and raised our two girls, Carrie and Ashley, in Port Washington. She never regretted retiring from IBM, even though she was on a female executive trajectory.

They say it takes a village to raise kids, and our village was the United Methodist Church of Port Washington. We had the best of times with all our friends, events, and committees. Vicki taught Sunday School for many years. As the kids got older, she went back to work part-time at Childs World Nursery School, and eventually full-time, bringing her positive energy to each endeavor. She was also an early work-from-home employee with Publishers Clearing House, naturally on the computer and telephone as customer service rep. Once the girls graduated high school she went back to full time employment first at IBM and Archives One, a document storage company We then moved around a bit due to Josef’s job: first Margaretville, Tarrytown NY, then Wilton CT. We were empty nesters at this time. While in Tarrytown she joined the USTA (United States Tennis Association – Eastern division) as Executive Assistant to the Director. Everywhere she worked, she spoke so highly of the special connections she made with her coworkers. She was always the "office mom,” and a “second mom” to Carrie and Ashley’s friends.

After retiring, Vicki got into new hobbies. She started genealogy exploration, and every day she would tell me about new relatives she found – her roots go back to the Mayflower, England, and the Magna Carta. She produced a humongous family tree poster from all her research and added information to the Ancestry database to help others. By then our family was growing literally, with grandkids. First came Hadley Myrtle Wegel, her twin granddaughter, then Walter Lee Lewis, a young man who has many characteristics of his Great Grandpa E. Lee Bean. A few years later came Violet Joe Lewis, and a month after that, the finale, Maison Sarah Wegel. Now she had to start a new love, needlepoint. She made each grandchild a framed picture with their birth information for posterity, a tradition passed down from her mother and grandmother. The last one was just finished this spring!

Vicki was known for her acceptance and love of everyone she met. When you spoke, she listened, always showing such love and care. She lived life to its fullest and always looked for the silver linings, even if the toughest situations.

Vicki is survived by her husband Josef, daughters Carrie Alexis Lewis, Catonsville MD, Ashley Ann Wegel, Laurel MD, their husbands John Lewis and Donald Wegel and four grandchildren, Hadley, Walter, Violet and Maison. She is also survived by her brothers, Douglas and Michael Bean both of Boise ID.

A celebration of life will be held on July 14th in Maryland, for details please reach out to Josef, Carrie or Ashley via email or text. All who loved her are welcome.

If you’d like, please consider donating to her favorite charities, American Heart Association, Marc Lustgarten Pancreatic Cancer Foundation or Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.witzkefuneralhomes.com for the Schoell family.