Vicki D. Durzy

Vicki Diana (Olexa) Durzy died peacefully on March 27, 2023 surrounded by her family after a valiant fight against a long illness. She had a life well lived. Those who knew Vicki knew that she could tell a long and often rambling story. She would want those left behind to know who she was and, more importantly, what she valued in this life.

Vicki was born, as the song goes, a coal-miner’s daughter in Ohio. While not rich in material goods, her childhood there was full of a tremendous amount of love and laughter from her father Paul, her mother Josephine, her brother Paul, many Aunts, Uncles, friends, neighbors and cousins. The lessons she learned there about family, hard work, the value of love and friendship above all else and how to bake a good pie stayed with her forever.

Vicki became a nurse and moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts where she met the love of her life, Hani. They settled first in Belmont, Massachusetts and later moved up to Litchfield, New Hampshire with son Hani. Soon, daughters Kirsten and Elizabeth joined them. Life in Litchfield was full of laughter, friends, summer baseball games and winter ice hockey. The family later moved to Amherst, New Hampshire, where Vicki was able to fulfill two lifelong dreams of owning and rehabbing an historic home (a dream she always said you only think you want until you live in a historic home) and working at the town library across the street surrounded by books. Vicki was also able to plant a perennial garden which she tended with immense care, full of many lovely things but most importantly a beautiful rose bush grown from a cutting off her grandmother's roses. Later Vicki and Hani built a home to retire to, perched high on a hill in Milford NH. Again, the garden was planted and bloomed and again the rose bush flourished. Earlier this year, Vicki and Hani made their final move to a smaller place in Milford. Although there was no place to plant the rose this time, she made sure that blooms were dried and pressed between glass and hung in the sunroom for her to see every day.

Vicki believed that the people she surrounded herself with made her life deep, meaningful and beautiful. She was cherished and will be missed by her husband of 57 years, Hani, and her children Hani, Kirsten and Elizabeth. From Vicki, they gained a sense of right and wrong, a fierce desire to stand for justice, a love of reading and plants, politics and, occasionally, the ability to bake a good pie. Vicki was also deeply loved by Cheryl, Phil. Paul, Hala, May, Peggy, Aziz, her nieces and nephews, her cousins, her many friends - most especially her dearest friend and chosen sister, Sue and countless four-legged creatures that made her house a home. She impacted, and was impacted by, more people than could ever be listed here. We believe you know who you are and that you know the love she had for you. We want you to know she knew the love that you had for her. Vicki was preceded into the next life by her parents, her mother- and father-in-law, as well as many friends and family members. She believes, as we do, that they are now gathering to welcome her home. Vicki’s most important role was as a doting grandmother. The love she carried for Charlie, AJ, Lila, Andrew and Evelyn sustained her in her later years. And they loved her back.

What more can you ask for in a life?

The family will be inviting all to a celebration of Vicki’s life later in the Spring when the roses are in bloom. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you sit together tonight and tell a rambling story about Vicki, laugh and remember her fondly, and, if you are able, to donate to your local library or in Vicki’s honor to SHARE Inc in Milford NH.