Saturday the Ebensburg Community gathered at Holy Name Church in Ebensburg to remember Victoria ‘Vicki’ Askew.
A memorial mass was held for the former community member who passed away on Jan. 20 at 101 years old from natural causes in her sleep in The Woodlands, Texas.
In 1999, Vicki moved to Ebensburg from Florida with her husband, Harold, so that he could be closer to where he had grown up.
In 2007, the Ebensburg Tennis Center was opened after a $2.5 million donation from Vicki’s son, Vince McMahon, Chairman and CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), through the Vince and Linda McMahon Family Foundation due to Vicki’s love of tennis and the lack of a center close by.
According to Vicki’s obituary, “Tennis was an important part of Vicki’s life. She started hitting balls at an old neglected court and was hooked for life. She played just until age 94, and refused to be in the ‘Senior League,’ and she always watched matches on TV”
She also sang in several church choirs.
Jamie Taylor, director of tennis for the Ebensburg Tennis Center, said that he met Vicki several years prior to the center opening when he was her instructor in Blair County.
“Think of any adjective that describes a person and that’s probably her,” he said. “Thoughtful, caring, compassionate, willing to do anything for you, supportive, she was an amazing person. That pretty much epitomized who she was.”
Taylor said that throughout her years, Vicki impacted many of those around her.
“She had lived 101 years and experienced a lot in her life but over those 101 years, she’s really impacted and had a profound effect on pretty much everyone she was around. Overall she was an absolutely incredible person,” he said.
Former Ebensburg Borough Manager Dan Penatzer described her as a “gem.”
“She’s just a true southern belle. She had a passion for tennis and my gosh she played tennis until very late, I think into her 90s. She’s just a real gem of a lady. I just couldn’t say enough about her,” he said.
Vicki’s passion for tennis was something she shared with the community both men said.
“She loved tennis and wanted the community to enjoy the sport,” Penatzer said. “She was always stressing that it was a lifetime sport -and it sure was for her – and Ebensburg is just fortunate that she left them that facility.”
Taylor said that the center was always something that she had wanted for the community.
“For her, that was something that she wanted for the community and something that was important for her and to be blessed with having the means to be able to provide the world-class tennis facility that she was able to offer the community of Ebensburg was something that she took pride in,” he said.
”At the same time, there was a degree of uncertainty because a lot of people weren’t really sure if a tennis center like that would make it in a small community and she was always such a great ambassador to promoting the tennis center and ultimately was a role model for so many for her positivity and her enthusiasm.
Taylor added that since the creation school teams have formed and tournaments have happened as well as many other things that would not have been possible without a center in town.
Vicki moved to Texas in 2010 after the death of her husband Harold.
She is proceeded in death by her son, Rod McMahon, who passed away a year prior.
Vicki is survived by her son Vince, four grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren according to her obituary.
At the time of her memorial service on Jan. 22, a private burial was planned in the Ebensburg area at a later date.
Katie Smolen is a reporter with The Tribune-Democrat. Follow her on Twitter @KSmolen1230.
www.tribdem.com
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism