Violet Elaine Wickett
LAUREL — Violet Elaine Wickett, 96, Laurel, died Oct. 23, 2020, at the Park View Haven Nursing Home, Coleridge.
Visitation will be 5-7 p.m., Wednesday, at the united Methodist Church, Laurel.
Funeral services will be at 10:30 a.m., Oct. 29, at the united Methodist Church, with Pastor Darren Timberlake officiating. Masks and social distancing will be required for the visitation and funeral.
Burial will be in the Laurel Cemetery.
Pallbearers will be Gary Kavanaugh, Ryan McCoy, Tyler McCoy, Shane Vondrak, Kevin Wacher and David Wickett.
Honorary pallbearers will be Violet’s grandchildren and greatgrandchildren.
Arrangements are under the direction of the Wintz Funeral Home, Laurel.
Violet Elaine Wickett was born April 23, 1924, in Dixon, to Gustaf and Elin (Kvick) Carlson. Violet graduated from Dixon High School, attended Wayne State College for two years and earned a one-room school teaching certificate. She married Keith William Wickett Nov. 4, 1944, in Atlanta, Ga., and lived in Pensacola, Fla., where Keith was stationed while serving as an aviator in the u.S. Navy. They returned to the Laurel area upon the end of Keith’s service commission, where they farmed until November 1956, when they moved their family to Washington State.
Violet earned her bachelor’s degree, and later earned her master’s degree from the university of Puget Sound, Tacoma, Wash. She taught second grade early in her teaching career, switching to teaching art for middle-school aged children later in her career.
Violet was a member of the united Methodist Church and was also a member of the church choir. She was a vocal soloist for many years. Keith and Violet served as Youth Group Leaders at the Marine View Methodist Church, Federal Way, Wash., sponsoring many activities and outings with the high school aged youth, including skiing.
Violet enjoyed art, creating paintings, pottery, and writing short stories. She taught her children the basic skills of sewing, upholstery, cooking, and jelly making. She designed their house in Federal Way, which further displayed her creative talents. And as a family built it, the house featured a flat butterfly roof, floor to ceiling windows, an open floor plan and courtyard entry. In 1972, Keith and Violet returned to the Laurel area to farm. Violet continued her creative activities by writing additional short stories for children, publishing a children’s book, and by developing phonetic education materials.
Violet is survived by her sons, Franklin (Pamela) Wickett, Beldon; Donald (Nancy) Wickett, Round Rock, Texas; daughter, Deanna (Joe) McCoy, Laurel; grandchildren, April Wickett, Dawn (Chad) Swirczek, Brooke (Calvin) Bouck, James (Laura) Wickett, Kristina (Shane) Vondrak, and Ryan (Celeste) McCoy; 11 great-grandchildren; sisters, Esther Craig, Topeka, Kan., and Bonnie Green, St. Louis, Mo.; and several nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Gustaf and Elin Carlson; husband, Keith Wickett; grandsons, Philip Hagan Wickett and Todd Hagen Wickett, sons of Donald and Nancy Wickett; brothers, Ernest, Carl, Oscar and Victor; sister, Ruth Kamrath; parents-in-law, Ruby and Verner Wickett; brothers-in-law, Marvin Wickett, Richard Wickett, Emil Kamrath, William Craig and William Green; and sisters-in-law, Donna (Wickett) Carlson, Mabel Carlson, Arlyce Carlson, Shirley Wickett, Jean Wickett and Rainey Wickett.