Peg Vines

1927 - 2021

Peg Vines
April 27, 1927 - November 27, 2021
Wichita, Kansas - Peg Vines enjoyed reading obituaries to see the interesting and inspiring things people had done with their lives. Now it's our turn to read about hers. At every age, Peg brought energy and enthusiasm and was animated by a seemingly indomitable life force. Peg celebrated a lively Thanksgiving with family, then passed away peacefully on Saturday, November 27, 2021, with family by her side.
Margaret "Peg" Yvonne Boemecke was born in Waterloo, Iowa, on April 27, 1927, as the Roaring Twenties were about to crash into the Depression. The ability to find the fun side of things never left her, nor did the impulse to economize at the same time. Peg was the eleventh of twelve children born to Roy C. Boemecke and Katharina Stoffel Boemecke. Out of the ten children who survived infancy, Peg was the only one to attend college, an accomplishment she downplayed by saying "I only had to ride my bike there," down the road to Iowa State Teachers College, now the University of Northern Iowa. She regaled her family this Thanksgiving with a story from her freshman year, when she took a midnight train to Chicago for her first Frank Sinatra concert, quite the adventure for a 17-year-old fan in 1944. Her enthusiasm for "Frankie's" talent was life-long and she attended his last Wichita concert in 1981, ever the Bobby Soxer.
It was in college that Peg found her love of writing, which carried her into a career first in newspaper journalism in Iowa and Nebraska and then into advertising in Wichita. Peg met her husband, Raymond Shayne Vines, when they were both working at a newspaper in Fremont, Nebraska. Peg and Ray moved to Wichita, Kansas, in 1956 because Ray had been offered a reporting job at the Wichita Eagle. When they moved to Wichita, Peg had just begun what she referred to as the "lost decade," in which she gave birth to Melissa, Monte, Jennifer, Ross, Claudia, Marilee, and Rebecca (Becky). The Vines household became ever-busier and not long after the last child was born, Peg was running it single-handedly.
Peg had returned to the working world and applied her creative skills in advertising and public relations, including with McCormick Armstrong Advertising Agency, Jack P. DeBoer & Associates, Associated Advertising, and in freelancing, but it was at Sullivan Higdon & Sink where she spent the majority of her career. While she was working, Peg continued her education. She completed a master's degree in communications and was one internship away from a second master's degree in social work. She was one of Sullivan, Higdon & Sink's first female copywriters and when she retired after 27 years, we heard many stories of how she had mentored and inspired others. Peg took pride in her work (Lord help us if there are any typos in this obituary because she will be back to let us know about it), and she took great pleasure in using her skills on the multitude of writing opportunities she had with her many volunteer organizations and on a wide array of creative family projects.
Peg's volunteer work in Wichita began while she was still working full-time with a full house. Peg took the difficulties and challenges that she and others she loved had encountered and turned them into opportunities to create change. An exhaustive list is not within our grasp but Peg put her heart into (often on the board as well as in the trenches): YWCA's Women's Crisis Center; City of Wichita's original Commission on the Status of Women; Women in Communication (honored as a Woman of Achievement in 1979); Sedgwick County Democratic Party; League of Women Voters; National Organization for Women (NOW); Citizen's Police Academy; Women's Political Caucus; Women's Alcoholism Treatment Service; Wichita Sexual Assault Center; Riverside Elementary and Marshall Junior High PTAs; Planned Parenthood; Women's Equality Coalition (named Woman of the Year in 1981); Women's International League for Peace and Freedom; American Red Cross, where she also donated 157 times; and the Sedgwick County Historical Society, where she volunteered in the gift shop into her nineties.
Peg sought to protect and expand women's rights by becoming politically active and by being a reliable volunteer. Peg said a "life-changing" weekend for her was her time as a Kansas delegate to the 1977 National Women's Conference in Houston, an event seen by many as a turning point for second-wave feminism in the United States. She also attended the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, which echoed Peg's conviction that women's rights are human rights. An admiration for Eleanor Roosevelt led Peg to share her spot-on portrayal of Eleanor over 130 times with local book clubs and service organizations. Peg called the Roosevelt Presidential Library for quotes and details so often she became friends with the librarian. Peg also was a delegate to the 2000 Conference of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom in Sweden.
Peg was a dependable volunteer with the Sedgwick County Democratic Party, as well as an elected Precinct Committeewoman. She worked on campaigns for school board, school bond issues, city council, county offices, state legislature, governor, U.S. senators and representatives, and, of course, president. She was both a founding board member for the Women's Crisis Center and also a regular volunteer on the overnight shift. One year, Peg's passion for women's rights even reached the family Christmas tree, which she decorated with green and white ERA ornaments for each of the states that had successfully passed the Equal Rights Amendment. Her children are intensely proud of her work and deeply grateful for the example she set of advocacy for others.
A new chapter of Peg's life began when she became Grandma Peg, a title that was perhaps her most cherished. She attacked grand-motherhood with an enthusiasm that was a marvel to behold. She applied her creativity and prodigious writing skills to her newfound project, of which there were eventually thirteen lucky recipients. She kept up with her family through the 15-year newsletter she created, "As the Vines Ripen," which was filled with her clever puns and wordplay and highlighted the latest activities of every family member. She sent them cards for all sorts of occasions, always with a personal note.
We cannot end without extolling one of Peg's quiet but mighty virtues. The bulk of her life was spent in service to others and one way she crystallized that focus on others was through the many "thank you" notes she wrote—always creative, timely, and heartfelt. May her spirit write on through each of us and may her memory be eternal.
Those who went before Peg but stayed in her heart were many, especially: her daughter, Jennifer Vines Smith; her parents, Roy and Katharina Boemecke; her siblings, Hazel Boemecke, Oscar Boemecke, Olive King, Mary Bristol, Angeline Boemecke, Ada Boesen, Arnold "Arnie" Boemecke, DuElla "Pete" Murray, Elizabeth "Betty" Billick, Robert "Bob" Boemecke, and Joseph "Joe" Boemecke; as well as her former husband, Ray Vines. Those she left behind include: her children, Melissa Vines, Monte (Kim Gee Vines) Vines, Ross Vines, Claudia (Jim Severance) Vines, Marilee Vines Cooper, and Rebecca Vines Thompson; her grandchildren, Christine Vines, Matthew Vines, Jacob (fiancée Jessica Gorton) Smith, Valerie Vines, Olivia (Adam) Enggasser, Jillian Vines, Alex Severance, Lauren Severance, Claire Severance, Scott (Erin) Cooper, Katie (fiancé Dalton Gould) Cooper, Krysta Thompson, and Kayla Thompson; her great-grandchildren, Gianna, Bethany, and Dolorosa Cooper; Brad and Cathrine Smith; Susan and Noel Giesecke; and many other beloved friends and relatives.
If you would like to make a contribution in memory of Peg, she would have greatly appreciated support for the Wichita Family Crisis Center, an important local organization she helped start. Checks can be mailed to 1111 N. St. Francis, Wichita, KS 67214; or online at www.wichitafamilycrisiscenter.org/donate.
A celebration of Peg's life for family and friends is being planned for around the New Year.