Vickie Gribben

Vickie Gribben, 71, of Robinson, IL, passed away in the comfort of her home on Saturday, December 13, 2025. She was born on May 26, 1954, in Lawrenceville, IL, and grew up around Hardinville, IL, as one of five children born to Willard R. Craig & Edith Lucille (Lennon) Craig.

Vickie graduated from Robinson High School in 1972, and she went to work with the kind of work ethic that does not need announcing. Over the years, she started at the Sugar Bowl, then worked at Gibson’s (then at Pamida), and later welded at E.H. Baare for 20 years. Even after retiring, she kept working, cleaning houses for many clients who quickly learned that Vickie did not just clean. She cared. She brought cookies. She gave little gifts. She made people feel remembered. Somewhere in the mix, she also bartended at the Elks part-time, and she served her community in ways that mattered, including as the receptionist for Dr. Elliott’s office for many years, and as Robinson Township Clerk, a role she held until the end. She loved her township crew, and over time, she even grew close to their kids.

That is the thing about Vickie. Caring for people was not something she planned. It was simply how she moved through the world. She took food to sick neighbors and friends. She sat with her friend Cindy through cancer. She “adopted” Ron’s Aunt Mary and regularly delivered her Angel Food Cake. When her daughter Heather lived in Chicago, Vickie would go visit with dollar bills in her pocket, ready to give to anyone on the street who needed help. If she texted you and you did not answer right away, she checked on you, not because she was nosy, but because she genuinely wanted to know you were okay. Heather counted on Vickie’s morning and nighttime texts, and Vickie never treated those check-ins like small things. To her, love lived in the daily details.

Vickie’s home reflected that same heart. It was comfortable, welcoming, and seasonally decorated with joy. She loved the holidays, especially Christmas and Halloween. At Christmas, she always had to have a tree up, and not just any tree. Every ornament told a story from a place she and Ron had traveled. It was her “Traveling Tree.” On Black Friday, she and Heather made the annual run to Evansville. On Halloween night, she and her family set out a charcoal grill and handed out pineapple upside-down cake shots for the adults passing by on the trick-or-treat route, and the grown-ups loved finding a reason to swing through.

Outside, her yard was her signature. It was immaculate. People literally stopped to tell her how beautiful it looked, and Vickie received the compliment the way she did most things: with a smile and then back to work. She loved tending to her flowers, and she had a soft spot for orioles, flamingos, frogs, and hummingbirds. At one point, there were 13 hummingbird feeders out at Ron’s house, and they would go through 30 pounds of sugar every summer to feed their little friends. Vickie loved the life that gathered in her yard, the little flashes of color and motion that made ordinary afternoons feel like a gift.

She also held a deep appreciation for waterfalls and sunsets, and never stopped being moved by them. She loved fishing most of all. It was her passion throughout her life, a rhythm that began when she was young, fishing with her dad on Sundays, hoping to hook dinner for the family. Even later, when vacations came along, fishing was part of what made them feel complete, whether it was deep-sea fishing in Florida or simply being near the water.

Vickie also knew how to have fun, and the people closest to her will tell you that, while she was sweet, she could be witty and ornery when the moment called for it. She had a way of saying something completely out of left field—a true “mic drop”—then smiling like she had done nothing at all. That was Vickie: a little mischief, a lot of heart. And the people who knew her best will tell you that her humor was one of the ways she loved. She loved her friends. She loved her card club and years of playing “500.” She loved belonging, and she gave belonging away wherever she went. If you ever received a picture of her food, you were part of her life on purpose. Vickie often took a photo of whatever she was eating and sent it to her family. It was her way of keeping the table extended, of sharing her day in a simple, tender way that said, “I’m here, I’m thinking of you, and I want you in this moment with me.”

After all, Vickie’s sweetest joy was her family, and it started with her daughter, Heather. She cherished having her close again when she moved back home, and Vickie made the most of it: movies on the couch, shared time, and the comfort of everyday life together. After Heather married Jeff, she loved the grandkids just as fiercely, showing up at ballgames, cheering them on, and spoiling them without apology. Even the granddog, Spice, had a special place in her heart. When Spice was diagnosed with cancer, Vickie came over every day, simply to sit close and offer pep talks.

Love like that didn’t stay in one lane. Vickie also knew the steady, faithful love of partnership. She had two great loves in her life: Roger, for 23 years, and Ron, for nearly 16. She married Roger Gribben on July 3, 2004. Together, Vickie and Roger owned and operated The Rock Place, a small business built around custom-engraved rocks that became personal, one-of-a-kind gifts carrying names, dates, and messages meant to last. Vickie especially loved delivering them on Christmas Eve, knowing they were about to become part of someone’s holiday morning. Roger passed away on April 24, 2010, and in time, life gave Vickie another chapter with Ron Wesley. Together, they made memories on the road and in the mountains, in Gatlinburg and along the Blue Ridge Parkway, at Niagara Falls, and in Yellowstone. They even rode Ron’s motorcycle through the Tail of the Dragon, chasing another adventure together, until an accident closed that chapter of their story. But Vickie was never defined by what knocked her down. She was defined by how she got back up.

Near the end, even then, she stayed Vickie. The day before she died, when the hospice nurse asked how she was doing, Vickie replied that she was “wonderful.” That was not denial. That was her. She could see beauty even at the edge of goodbye, and she refused to let the final chapter erase the gratitude she carried. After all, if you knew Vickie, you probably noticed it right away: the smile. It did not fade when life was easy, and it did not disappear when life was heavy. Vickie always kept her warmth. She kept her grit. She kept that light in her eyes that could make a room feel better simply because she walked into it.

And now that light feels farther away. But we know it has not gone out. It lives on in the people she loved, in the afterglow of the love she left behind.

She is survived by her daughter & son-in-law, Heather Wright & Jeff Mueller (Robinson, IL); by her grandkids, Logan Mueller, Jerry Mueller, Ryder Wesley, and Lainey Wesley; her significant other, Ron Wesley (Flat Rock, IL), and his sons, Ron Wesley (Flat Rock, IL) and Brent Wesley (Flat Rock, IL); her siblings, Sam & LeeAnn Craig (Goshen, IN), Connie Craig (Sandusky, OH), and Jeff Craig (Palestine, IL); and by several nieces, nephews, and dear friends. She was preceded in death by her husband, Roger Gribben; her parents, Willard R. & Edith Lucille Craig; and her sister, Barbara Pethtel.

A time of visitation will be held from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Friday, December 19th, at the Goodwine Funeral Home in Robinson. Services will immediately follow at 7:00 p.m., and a live stream of the service will be available at www.goodwinefuneralhomes.com/live-stream/live-stream. Memorials may be made to either the Crawford County Nature Preserve or to the Crawford County Senior Citizens Center, with envelopes available at the funeral home. Burial will be in the Oak Grove Cemetery at a later date.