Vicki Carlisle

Vicki Lea Carlisle
1947~ 2012
Resident of Boulder Creek
Vicki, age 64, passed away suddenly on February 4, 2012 after a brief illness.
Born August 14, 1947 in Indianola, Iowa, to William Tecumseh Carlisle and Mildred Jean Carlisle, who migrated quickly to California on doctors' orders to save their asthmatic infant's life. Vicki spent some time at a home for asthmatic children in the desert near Tucson, Arizona. Here, as she tells it, she became an independent spirit. On the one hand, she was a ball of energy; on the other, she continued to have serious bouts of illness. Her ongoing experience with chronic illness made her resolve to be strong. After graduating from Fontana High School and Chaffey College in Alta Loma, Vicki took a job as a medical secretary in 1966. It was here that she fell in love with the helping professions. For the following half century she then dedicated her life to improving community health services, spending 22 years of that time working in Santa Cruz County.
At the time of her death, she was Director of Health Information Management and Privacy Officer at Dominican Hospital. Her special contribution was the role she played in bringing electronic record keeping to Santa Cruz hospitals and clinics. Vicki saw the implications the information revolution held for hospital systems early on and she knew she wanted to be part of it. Her aptitude for computers and data systems suited her well to steer the wave of the information revolution into the hospital. And her genuine enjoyment of her co-workers made her a much-loved manager and colleague.
Vicki married Eric Cummins on October 1, 1979 in a hot air balloon. They had one child, Ildi Carlisle-Cummins, and a life full of adventures from Guatemala to Alaska. In 1982, Vicki and Eric took Ildi, before she was even walking, to Central China while Eric taught for a year.
She was a unique woman who enjoyed her life to its fullest with no regrets; she was fearless and tough, loved life, laughing, food and love. She was wondrously happy, inordinately optimistic, smart, frank, honest and kind. She was the most practical person in the world, a puzzle solver and a cross-worder. She loved birds and birding, walking the beaches and trails, the visual arts, the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, jazz, reading. Vicki was a crazy, wild baseball fan and was treated to her last Giant's game by Ildi's fianc#233;e Carla Wright.
Vicki was also a devoted mother, wife, daughter and sister and she will be sorely missed by her family and friends.
We will be celebrating Vicki's life at a memorial on Sunday, February 26, 2012 at 1 pm at the Oakwood Memorial Chapel, 3301 Paul Sweet Road, Santa Cruz. In lieu of flowers please send any donations to The American Lung Association by visiting http://www.lung.org/donate/.