Vicki A (Styliadis) Czarnecki

Vicki (Vasiliki A. Styliadis) Czarnecki, wife, mother and Yaya to her grandchildren, passed away on December 21, 2022 in Riverside, Calif., after a long battle with cancer and recent heart disease. She was 73 years old.

She is survived by her loving husband of 48 years, John, and three daughters Scarlett, Vanessa and Lindsay.

Services will be held on Friday, Jan. 20 at 2 p.m. at Avila’s Historic 1929 Legacy Room at 3252 Mission Inn Ave, Riverside, CA, 92507. There will be complimentary valet on site.

Vicki immigrated from Greece to Rochester, N.Y., when she was just 5 years old with her parents and two sisters. She learned English while watching movies and television. She graduated from West High School in Rochester in 1967 and went on to earn a Bachelor’s of Arts degree from SUNY Brockport. 

Vicki met her husband John while the two were working at the Rochester Gannett newspapers  – John was a sportswriter and Vicki was in public relations. 

The two married in 1974 and lived together in Rochester for five more years before moving to Southern California, two years after she gave birth to Scarlett.

Vicki’s family and career grew in Riverside. She started teaching English at Alvord Continuation High School, proud of being able to help some students become the first in their families to graduate and also have a chance at college.

Vicki enjoyed her summers off. She loved to read, go to the beach and dance at her kids’ parties. She was also a crossword puzzle master. She loved traveling and all kinds of music from musicals to Motown. Vicki retired from teaching 12 years ago. 

In February 2017 Vicki was diagnosed with cancer, but her resilience allowed her to have quality time with her youngest grandchildren Jase and Kallie, to enjoy family trips to Cayucos and to walk her daughter Lindsay down the aisle.

But her greatest accomplishment, according to so many of her dear friends, was supporting her husband and raising three daughters with completely different personalities who have become successful in varied career fields. 

John worked a busy job covering the NFL year-round, first as a nationally-known sportswriter for many newspapers including The Press-Enterprise. The majority of his career was spent as an editorial consultant with Fox NFL Sunday, commuting into Los Angeles.

Vicki then balanced the schedules of her three little girls’ interests – Scarlett in theater, Vanessa in softball and Lindsay in hockey. 

Scarlett, an RN, is now a nurse manager in the pediatric cancer ward at Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital. As the oldest daughter, she always took special care of her mother. Vanessa Duhon is a high school math teacher in Templeton, Calif., who played softball for her mother’s native Greece in the 2004 Olympics and is a recent Riverside Sports Hall of Fame inductee. Lindsay is a former college hockey player in Minnesota who now heads the assignment desk for Fox Sports. She recently returned from Qatar where she worked on Fox’s telecasts of the World Cup.

Vicki is also survived by grandchildren Ashlyn, Jase and Kallie Duhon, son-in-law Justin, daughter-in-law Margaret Giuffre and granddaughter Lizzy. 

Vicki has two surviving sisters, Angie Meyer and Mary Vasho, who reside in Rochester. She is also survived by nieces Lisa Flynn and her husband Tim, Tracey Meyer and Lara Sager Dixon, and brother-in-law Jim Czarnecki and his sons Oscar and Xavier.

Finally, Vicki is survived by many dear friends who she chose as family, the Cannons, the McDonnells, and many more.

Celebration of Life will be on Wednesday, January 20, 2023 at Avila's Historic 1929 Legacy Room  at 2:00 PM.  In lieu of flowers, donations to Vicki's favorite charities would be appreciated, JDRF, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and Make-A-Wish of the Inland Empire/Orange County.

Arrangements Entrusted To The Care Of Akes Family Funeral Home, 9695 Magnolia Ave, Riverside, CA. 92503. FD~1276

©AkesFamilyFuneralHome2022

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