Vicki Lynn Thurber

Vicki Roper Thurber passed away in the early morning hours of May 3rd, 2023 following an intense battle with Alzheimer's Disease. She is survived by her miniature schnauzer son, Reesie, as well as her human sister Robyn D'aigle and nephew Sean D'aigle in addition to cousins Kent and Trina Howard alongside nieces and nephews Nicole D'aigle, Ben Roper, and Marcus Roper. She was preceded in death by her beloved parents, Robert and Betty Roper, her brother, Randy Roper, and several dogs, who are generally regarded as having been the luckiest four-legged folks on Earth for having been in her adoring care.

Vicki was born on October 13, 1946 following her father's return from flying a P-51 Mustang in World War II. Early on, Vicki fell in love with dogs, and that love only grew with each passing year. Vicki graduated from Cherokee High School and went on to attend the University of Georgia, whose mascot is perhaps-but-probably-not coincidentally a dog. College life suited Vicki's desire for new places and ideas very well, and she would recount many days spent down by the river listening to Motown records or someone playing folk songs on a guitar. After two years, Vicki decided the big city was the place for her, so she sought employment in Atlanta while she initially stayed with relatives in her later very familiar Lenox area. An early marriage took her home out of the city to Winder, in between her alma mater in Athens and her work in Atlanta. Already, Vicki's strong work ethic she proudly inherited from her father was becoming apparent. In 1971, Vicki started working at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It would be 43 years until she retired from the CDC: 43 years of proud, complicated work that helped people all over the world and brought glory to a workplace she loved.

The only place Vicki loved more than the CDC was her home, Atlanta. The joy and comfort she felt living here was immediately obvious any time Atlanta came up in conversation, which, with Vicki, was very often. She took pride in our city's accomplishments and mourned our tragedies. Driving around in her Mazda convertible with her Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis-style large sunglasses, Vicki knew all the shortcuts and the history of each building and neighborhood. From the long-shuttered Macy's Department Store in the heart of Downtown to the delightfully weird Inman Park Festival Parade celebrating Atlanta's first suburb, Vicki loved all of it and was passionate about preserving the history and lifestyle of what was while also celebrating the internationally renowned metropolis Atlanta has become. Every street on every trip elicited a new story of past, present, and future.

Political involvement was important to Vicki. John F. Kennedy and the too-short period of American Camelot was a defining aspect of her life. She believed that all people should be free and able to live a life devoted to "truth, justice, and the pursuit of happiness." Vicki herself embodied these ideals, living life on her own terms with an appreciation for sentimental remembrances of the past with an optimistic vision for the future fueled by the same dogged work ethic instilled in her by her father. She had a great love of animals-particularly dogs-and the natural world. These loves and her adoration of Atlanta often manifested themselves in her favorite place, where she would usually travel after work to unwind and enjoy the surrounding museums and sights: Piedmont Park. Her favorite building was One Atlantic Center, a large gold building near Piedmont Park also visible on the horizon en route to her usual grocery store in Ansley Park. In her later years, Vicki would find perhaps her greatest annual joy in running the Peachtree Road Race with family, which she enjoyed for 10 consecutive years with each year raising new challenges and possibilities to which Vicki's unique knowledge of Atlanta and determined nature brought novel solutions and experiences. Those sorts of things were definitively Vicki: classic but unexpected, flexible though tenacious, reliable yet still wondrously unpredictable. Hers will be remembered as a life lived deliberately, joyously, and she will be dearly missed.

A Celebration of Life will take place at 2:00 pm on May 27, 2023 in the chapel of AS Turner Funeral Home.