Daughter of Hollister residents
Deborah Lynn Vik-Martinez died Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2003 at Watsonville Community Hospital. She was 30.
Ms. Vik-Martinez was born severely mentally retarded at Ft. Belvoir, Va. in 1972. The daughter of an Army officer, she received care from the best hospitals in the U.S. Her parents were taught by Johns Hopkins University to care for her and help her learn.
In 1975 she moved with her family to Ft. Ord, where her mother helped establish the Multihandicapped Preschool of the Monterey Peninsula and taught as a parent volunteer.
When her father was assigned to Korea in 1977, she became the foster daughter of Joe and Ann Martinez and moved to Santa Cruz, and the two families considered themselves as one. Doctors said she would not live to be 5 years old, but she attended the Duncan Holbert School in Watsonville and the Skills Center in Aptos. She enjoyed swimming, bowling with other handicapped people and vacations in Mexico and Hawaii with her foster parents.
She is survived by her parents, Don and Karen Vik of Hollister; her foster parents; her sisters, Laura Dang of Hollister and Tanya Vik of San Diego; and her grandparents, Tobias Martinez of Watsonville, Hazel Loptien of Denver, Colo. and Greg Vik of Pueblo, Colo.
A memorial service will be held Sunday, Feb. 2 at 3 p.m. at La Selva Community Church, 26 Florido Ave. in Watsonville. Private interment will be at San Joaquin National Cemetery in Santa Nella.
Mehl’s Colonial Chapel in Watsonville is assisting the family with arrangements.
In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to the Friendship Bowling League, 531 Altivo Drive, La Selva Beach, CA 95076.
