- Date Of Birth: December 3, 1918
- Date Of Death: October 8, 2013
- State: Indiana
Violet Grace “Vi” Stuckman, 94, of Elkhart, passed away Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2013, at Riverside Village in Elkhart.
She was born in Racine, Wis., on Dec. 3, 1918, the middle child of Frank and Anna (Adeszko) Kubiak.
She married Robert G. Stuckman in Cicero, Ill., on April 28, 1939.
Violet was preceded in death by her husband, grandchild Jami Lyn Reed, sister Dorothy (Dora) Chause, nephew Joseph Chause and niece Doreen Chause.
Survivors include her brother, Frank Jr. (Immy) Kubiak; daughters Suzan Stuckman and Linda (Thomas) Reed; granddaughter Jody (Daniel) McDonough; grandson Jason (Angie) Reed; great-grandsons Steven and Brady Reed and Matthew and Samuel McDonough; and many nieces and nephews.
In 1957 Vi received her Realtor’s license. In 1960 Vi was appointed the first woman in Elkhart to the Board of Zoning Appeals and Plan Commission by Mayor Frank Parmeter.
Feeling a keen sense of calling she left this position in 1963 and became somewhat of a pioneer in the community by becoming only one of a handful of women running her own real estate business, Vi Stuckman Realty. She was one of the first Realtors to have an answering machine and found great resistance to it with many people hanging up rather than leaving a message. There were no fax machines, cell phones or computers and all contracts were typed by hand using carbon paper to make extra copies. At one point in her career she collaborated with other Realtors to start a forerunner of what would later develop into becoming the first MLS source for Realtors.
She was a member of the Indiana Real Estate Commission and Board of Realtors and after 20 years in the real estate business she retired in 1983. She was a member of St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church for 66 years.
She enjoyed learning new things and went on many trips with the Elderhostel program, which helped her continue her education on many levels. Vi Loved to travel and was abroad several times, but her favorite mode of transportation was her old motor home in which she and her friends planned and enjoyed many trips around the United States. Her hobbies included drawing, painting with water colors and crafts of many kinds.
