Obituary of Victoria Martin Guertin

Victoria (Martin) Guertin, 65, of Glastonbury passed away peacefully Thursday, August 18, with her family by her side. Above all, she was a loving, generous and caring wife, mom, daughter, sister, and friend. After receiving her undergraduate degree from the University of Hartford she went on to the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY where she became a classically trained chef. Her culinary career included white tablecloth restaurants in Newport, RI as well as managing food services for Milton Bradley, Marriott and Colt Industries. Vicki took time away from her career to raise her beloved children, Jane and Tyler. During this time, she was an active member of the community and First Church in Glastonbury. Vicki went back to graduate school in the late ‘90s and shifted her career path to teaching subjects near and dear to her heart—exploring professional cooking and family development. For the past 16 years, Vicki taught Family and Consumer Science at Glastonbury High School. She cherished her students and enjoyed nothing more than hearing about their successes and triumphs after graduation. Her time as a teacher was one of the great joys of Vicki’s life—from seeing the delight in her student’s eye as they fell in love with the kitchen to seeing students go on to pursue culinary careers to helping students bake fresh loaves of French bread to take home to their families. Asked to characterize Vicki in a few words, her family describes her as selfless, loving, authentic, funny and kind. Vicki was the glue of her family—and took great pride and joy in being a wife and a mom. Vicki’s love of life and inspiring vitality made for so many indelible memories. Whether it was spending hours cooking in the kitchen with her family, or her love of art and music passed down by her mother and father, or the many trips with extended family to Ocracoke Island, or the many special family meals at Al Forno in Providence, or Friday nights relaxing at home with her husband, or girls’ weekends away with her closest pals—Vicki brought good intentions, love and cheer to all she did. Vicki is survived by her husband Paul Guertin of Glastonbury, CT, her son and daughter-in-law, Tyler and Noreen Guertin of Watertown, MA and her daughter Jane Guertin of Newport Beach, CA. She was a beloved sister of twins Gay O’Connor of Corral de Tierra, CA and Nancy Martin of Hawaii, and Jane Buday of Doylestown, PA—and a cherished aunt to her many nieces and nephews. Vicki was predeceased by her sister Pamela Huested and parents Florence and Gail Martin. Family and friends are invited to a memorial celebration at First Church of Christ, Congregational, 2183 Main St., Glastonbury, CT on Saturday, August 27, 2016 at 11am. Vicki bravely fought Leukemia twice and was blessed with three incredible years thanks to her bone marrow donor and team at Dana Farber and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in memory of Victoria Guertin, P.O. Box 849168, Boston, MA 02284 or via www.dana-farber.org/gift. We encourage those who are able to consider becoming a potential stem cell donor through bethematch.org. For online condolences please visit www.mulryanfh.com.