Vale Salkauskas

Vale Salkauskas of Chelsea, Michigan, formerly of Manchester, age 79, passed away Wednesday, October 29, 2025, at the Chelsea Retirement Community Kresge Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center. She was born September 21, 1946, in Lubeck, Germany, the daughter of Leo and Bronislava (Astrauskas) Rutkauskas.

Vale was a wonderful cook. She loved to cook, bake and feed everyone that came across her path, including her friends at the Pines. If you ever stopped in to see Vale, you left with a full stomach or a bag with some wonderful snacks in it. She enjoyed knitting, crocheting and crafting. Vale loved doing craft shows with her family and friends. She was an adoring grandmother and loved her grandchildren to no end. Her paying job was being a nurse, but it never ended there. She was a nurse to the very end. Vale loved to take care of people and had the biggest, caring heart. Even when the MS took away her ability to walk, she was always taking care of people. Vale was an amazingly caring, wonderful woman who made a big impression on a lot of people's lives.

Vale was married to Walter Salkauskas before he preceded her in death in April of 1999. She is survived by her son, Casey Salkauskas of Salinas, California; daughter, Dawn (James) Chizek of Brooklyn; sisters, Irene (Carl) Penthor of Toronto, Canada, and Joanne (Robert) Nowell of Dutton, Ontario; three grandchildren, Nicholas Salkauskas, Alexander and Madison Chizek; and five nieces and nephews. In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her parents; and brother, John Rutkauskas.

A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date. Arrangements were entrusted to Cole Funeral Chapel in Chelsea.