Veneta Wicker

Veneta Carol Law Wicker, 89, died Friday, Aug. 27, 2021, at Good Samaritan Village in Moscow, Idaho.

She was born Feb. 8, 1932, in Port Angeles, Wash., the second of two daughters to Joseph Ellis and Willetta Pearl Gersbach Law. She graduated from Port Angeles High School, attended Seattle Pacific College and achieved certification as a registered nurse in a three-year residency at Tacoma General Hospital. As a child, she enjoyed being outdoors in her father’s garden and fishing boat, going to movies and playing high school volleyball.

In 1952, she met Ed F. Wicker, who was stationed at McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma. They were married in Port Angeles on Dec. 20, 1953. She worked as an RN at Pullman (Wash.) Memorial Hospital starting in 1955 while her husband completed degrees at Washington State University.

After time at home with her young daughters and a move across the border to Moscow, Idaho, she returned to nursing at the WSU Student Health Clinic on the Pullman campus. She retired in 1978 when her husband’s work took them to Washington, D.C., and Fort Collins, Colo.

She was a member of Beta Sigma Phi sorority, and she enjoyed acrylic painting classes and golfing. She delighted in travel, taking her daughters on months-long visits in Europe and Japan during her husband’s research sabbaticals there in the early 1970s and on shorter rambles, often to visit family, in the Pacific Northwest. After returning to Moscow in the early 1990s, she and her husband explored Alaska in summer and Mexico in winter.

After her husband’s death in 2008, she spent time with long-time family friend Frank Workman of Pullman. Together, they enjoyed ship cruises, regional driving trips and nearby casino seafood buffets. She completed her time on earth living three years at Good Samaritan Moscow Village. Her family is grateful for the care she received and the friends she made there.

She is survived by her daughters and their families: Cynthia King of Moscow and son Philip; and Colin and Sonja Takatori of Mukilteo, Wash., sons Jason and Lucas, daughter-in-law Katie and grandchildren Jackson and Clara. She is survived by her friend Frank, three of her late husband’s siblings and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband of 54 years, Ed; son-in-law Joel King; sister Winona Hutchison; brothers- and sisters-in-law; a niece and nephews.

A private graveside service will be Friday, Sept. 10, at Moscow Cemetery.

Memorial gifts may be made to Good Samaritan Moscow Village, 640 Eisenhower St., Moscow, ID 83843; please designate for Moscow Village skilled nursing care.

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