Victoria Thompson

selling author of over 50 novels, including the Gaslight Mysteries and the Counterfeit Lady novels. She was also a college professor, mentor, and devoted wife, mother, and grandmother.

Vicki is survived by her husband of 55 years, Jim Thompson; her sister, Sue (Joe) Bredekamp of Cheverly, Md.; her daughter, Lisa (Rob) Thompson of Long Grove, Ill.; her daughter, Ellen (Dave) Thompson Nemetz of Los Angeles, Calif.; her three grandchildren, Liam Thompson, Ryan Thompson and KJ Thompson; and her beloved cancer support group.

Born Victoria Ellen Straface in Washington, D.C., Vicki graduated from the University of Maryland in 1970. In 2012, she earned a Master of Fine Arts in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University in Greensburg, a program for which she was also a professor from 2000-23.

Vicki, who lived in Altoona with her family from 1979-82 and 1987-2003, published 20 historical romance novels before pivoting to historical mysteries in 1999. In 2012, she won a Career Achievement Award from Romantic Times magazine, and she’s been nominated for numerous other awards, including Edgar and Agatha Awards. Vicki also had a long and successful career as a non-profit fundraiser for March of Dimes and Lutheran Social Services in Central Pennsylvania. In recent years, she served on the Board of Trustees of the Vernon Area Public Library in Lincolnshire, Ill., a position she particularly enjoyed.

Vicki and her infectious laugh will be greatly missed by all who knew her.

A memorial service will be held at Lake Forest Friends Meeting House in Lake Forest, Ill., at a later date.

Donations can be made in Vicki’s memory to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society or March of Dimes.