Ingrid Vignos

Obituary
Ingrid Vignos, 85, of Needham, MA, passed away on Tuesday, July 11, 2023 at her home.
She was born on February 6, 1938, to Karl and Kaethe Fritzsche in Breslau, Poland (then Germany). She grew up during the end of World War II and was a war refugee who had to flee with her mother from Breslau to Koblenz, Germany to escape advancing Russian forces and reunite with her father. She spent her teen years in high school and college in Germany before emigrating to the United States to attend Yale University for her graduate studies in biology. One of her proudest accomplishments was helping on one of the research teams in the US working on the Polio vaccine in the late 1950's. She met James Vignos during their time at Yale and were married on February 24, 1962.
Ingrid loved being out in nature, whether camping with her family, hiking around nearby ponds each day, or scaling one of the White Mountains in New Hampshire. She passed this love of nature on to her sons who both became Eagle Scouts and avid campers and hikers; all four grandchildren are nature lovers as well.
Ingrid loved to travel the world, whether visiting friends and relatives back in Germany or going further afield like Tanzania, Timbuktu, the Himalayas, Patagonia, or Antarctica. She was bold and adventurous and always wanted to experience what it was like to be a local. On the way home from one trip, she was always busy planning out the next one in her mind. Soon enough she was on the phone with the airlines every day trying to get the best deal she could find (if only she knew how easy the internet makes this now!).
Ingrid is survived by her husband James Vignos, her son: René Vignos, his wife Kathleen, her grand daughter Josette Vignos, and her grandson Thomas Vignos, of San Francisco, CA; her daughter-in-law Joanne Vignos and her granddaughters: Rachel Vignos and Sarah Vignos, of Windham, NH.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to:
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Please designate your gift to Ovarian Cancer Research
Pay online:
https://giving.brighamandwomens.org/give1/
Or send check to:
Brigham and Women's Hospital | Development Office
263 Huntington Ave #318
Boston, MA 02115-4506
Dana Farber Cancer Institute
Please designate your gift to Woman's Cancers, Ovarian Cancer
Pay online:
https://danafarber.jimmyfund.org/site/Donation2?df_id=2100&mfc_pref=T&2100.donation=form1&utm_source=dfh&utm_medium=button&utm_campaign=AGDFH031519&s_src=AGDFH031519&s_subsrc=AGDFH031519
Or send check to:
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
P.O. Box 849168
Boston, MA 02284-9168