July 19, 1931- October 13, 2025
Vicenta Vergara Madayag Reis (“Vicky” to her friends) died peacefully on October 13, 2025 at the age of 94.
She was surrounded by her family as she passed from earth and entered heaven to be joyfully reunited with her husband, Lee.
Vicky was born July 19, 1931 near Manila in the Philippine Islands.
She married her husband when he was stationed during the Korean War at Clark Air Base near her small farming community.
Vicky lived with her parents and nine siblings in lush tropical forests near a river. They endured Japanese occupation during World War II.
She told stories to her children and grandchildren of her memory of hiding in caves and hearing bullets strike the ground near them as they hid from Japanese soldiers. Her family celebrated the arrival of American soldiers.
“They were kind and helpful and gave us candy,” she remembered with a smile.
She also told stories of how she was a “tom-boy” during her youth – participating in daring activities with boys regardless of consequences.
“I was stronger and a better swimmer,” she proudly told her children.
Vicky learned English during her Filipino education. She also developed a strong faith as a member of the Catholic church.
While in the Philippines, she worked as a “house-girl” - cleaning the homes of American Airmen in the early 1950s.
Her soon-to-be husband described her to his friends as “a beautiful looker with a knockout figure!”
The couple dated until Lee received word of his imminent stateside return. They married in July, 1953 and he left the Philippines shortly after.
Pregnant with her first-born son, Steven Elliot, she remained behind in the Philippines where relatives decried their belief that she had been abandoned by the American Airman.
She had not been.
The couple wrote love letters to one another constantly until Lee borrowed enough money from his father to pay ship’s passage for Vicky and her nearly one-year-old son to sail to America in November, 1954.
The newly-reunited family moved to South Carolina where two other siblings (Vicky Lee and Raymond Charles) were born in 1955 and 1956.
The diminutive Vicky worked in a textile mill for a time while her husband was shift-working at DuPont’s Savannah River Plant. With no driver’s license, Vicky depended on co-workers to get to and from work.
She and her young children often walked from their small block house in Barnwell, South Carolina to their church or the Piggly Wiggly.
The family’s move to Bay City, Texas, took place in 1964 when Lee joined Celanese Chemical Plant.
In time, Vicky learned to drive, became a licensed beautician, worked in several hair salons and convenience stores in Bay City, and continued to raise her family.
In retirement, she and Lee moved to Friendswood, Beatrice in Nebraska, and Kerrville before returning once more to Bay City.
Among her hobbies, she loved to crochet.
The results of her talented crochet work is still enjoyed today by her children and grandchildren.
When her eyesight was better in her youth, she crocheted doilies, tablecloths, and bedspreads with thread.
In later years, she switched to yarn and created “afghans of love” for all her children, grandchildren, and even some of the great-grandchildren before the hand-work became too difficult for her to continue.
Holy Cross Catholic Church and participation in the Legion of Mary were some of the most important aspects of her life.
A devout Catholic, she attended mass as often as possible and encouraged her Methodist husband to attend with her and their children.
When interviewed 30 years ago by her son Ray, she told him that her main satisfaction in life had been “learning about God, bringing God more into her family, and pleasing her husband while raising her children to be good.”
After the death of her husband, Vicky knew beyond doubt that she would one day be rejoined with him and all her family. She looked forward to that joyful reunion in God’s Kingdom.
Vicky was preceded in death by her many siblings and her husband of 57 years.
She is survived by her 3 children, 11 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren and a host of friends and distant relatives here and abroad.
She will be greatly missed, but her smile and laughter will be long-remembered!
She was interred at Cedarvale Cemetery after a funeral mass in her memory on October 17, 2025. Her pall bearers were her eight loving grandsons.
