Victoria Naegele

1958 - 2025

Victoria J (Curey) Naegele of Trapper Creek, Alaska, and Laingsburg, Michigan, died October 7, 2025 after a resurgence of cancer. She was 66.
Victoria was born Oct. 18, 1958 as the youngest child of Ransom M. and Beatrice M. (Beck) Curey in Hillsdale, MI, and was raised at the family farmstead in Litchfield, MI, where she attended K-12 school. She benefited from Title IX, enjoying track, basketball, FFA and other activities with some success.
After graduation in 1976, she completed an associate's degree in natural resources at Lake Superior State College, where she met her future husband, Philip B. Naegele, of Springport, MI, marrying Aug. 5, 1978.
The couple returned to college at Michigan State where they each completed bachelor degrees with high honors in agricultural fields, Victoria's in ag communications, which launched her on a career in journalism.
Criss-crossing Michigan with Phil's jobs in Monroe to Ionia to Gladwin to Boyne City, the Naegeles and their growing family spent seven years with Victoria as a reporter and newspaper editor in Gaylord and Petoskey. With three children in tow, they made the move to Aniak, Alaska, in November 1994, experiencing life in a remote Native Alaska village.
In 1995 Victoria became managing editor of the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman in Wasilla, AK, and she maintained an ongoing relationship with that publication for the next 15 years in a variety of compacities.
The family moved to Delta Junction, AK, in 1997, where Victoria was a substitute teacher, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner correspondent, and the director of Alaska Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC).
The family returned to the Palmer-Wasilla area in 2005, living near Hatcher Pass until 2012. Victoria was outreach/PR coordinator for the Alaska Association of Conservation Districts. She also helped found Alaska Cat Adoption Team, an all-volunteer feline rescue for Southcentral Alaska.
With retirement ahead, the couple bought a farm in Ontonagon, MI, splitting time between the Upper Peninsula and Alaska, building a remote cabin and remodeling a small home in Trapper Creek before fully returning to Alaska in 2021.
Victoria's Alaska adventures included plenty of close calls with nature, including bears and moose, earthquakes and weather. She enjoyed snowshoeing, biking, photography, water-falling, writing, history, travel, genealogy, and being in the beauty of the UP and Alaska.
She was predeceased by her parents and a brother and sister-in-law Dennis J. and Marcia M. Curey. She is survived by her husband of 47 years, Philip, as well their three children: Rachel (Alex Kang) Naegele, East Lansing; Karaline Fusco, Sedro-Woolley, WA; and Jonas M. Naegele, Wasilla, AK, as well as three grandchildren: Rhys, Aelin and Xaiden. Also surviving her are her siblings and their spouses, Sandra S. Montgomery, Haslett, MI; Ransom M. (Gabriella) Curey II, Woodburn, IN; and Marcia (Ronald) Schmidt, New Braunfels, TX, as well as numerous nieces, nephews and grand- and great-grand nieces and nephews.
Victoria loved her family, her friends, her pets and her Savior, Jesus Christ, and she benefited endlessly from their love in return, especially with the return of an aggressive cancer in 2024.
There will be no funeral service, and in lieu of flowers, donations to Copper Country Christian School in Chassell, MI (20980 Broemer Road Chassell, MI 49916), Alaska Cat Adoption Team (PO Box 212555, Anchorage, AK 99521) or the Royal Oak Society might be considered; or brighten the world by planting a perennial or tree.
A consummate wordsmith, Victoria chose to write her own obituary. Always direct with her words - written or spoken - those who loved and respected her expected she would be concise, and humble, even on this occasion. She lived a life of integrity, truth and faith, challenging us, teaching us and inspiring us by her example and her love. Because of that, our lives - and the lives of countless others - are richer.