Vicki Mae McGee, 79

Vicki Mae McGee of Whitehall, Montana, formerly of Manton, Michigan, went to be with her Lord on October 13, 2025. Vicki was born Vicki Mae Fewlass in Cadillac, Michigan, on December 7, 1945, to Leon Ardis Fewlass and Vera Louvee (Lovell) Fewlass. She was the seventh of thirteen children. Vicki grew up on the Fewlass family farm northeast of Manton, before moving to the edge of town with the family in 1957. She attended Manton Consolidated Schools.

A loving mother, she and her first husband, Richard (Dick) Thompson, raised their two children, Richard (Rick) Thompson II and Robin Thompson, in a house on M42 east of Manton. Their home, complete with a chicken coop, a pasture out back where the neighbors kept horses, a track to ride the motorcycle on, a basketball court, and plenty of room to play football or baseball, was a favorite place for Rick and Robin and all their high school friends to hang out. Vicki enjoyed family campouts at Crooked Lake in Jennings, Michigan, and hunting morel mushrooms in the maple forest-covered hills around northern lower Michigan.

After her husband passed, she met and married Leonard Dale McGee (Dale). They lived in Pomona, California. She worked at the Holcomb Group Home in Pomona, CA, as a Youth Caretaker. She also worked as a teacher's aide at the LA County Women's Jail. During her time at the Holcomb Group Home, she took care of Robert Crisp. She and Dale became Robert's foster parents. Vicki, Dale, and Robert loved annual camping trips to Kennedy Meadows along the Pacific Crest Trail with family and friends.

Dale, Vicki, and Robert moved to Whitehall, Montana, where they raised horses, goats, and dogs on their farm outside of town. She enjoyed camping in the Montana Forest Service cabins throughout the state, as well as hiking, fishing, gold panning, and riding ATVs. She delighted in drawing pictures of her family members and scenes of places she had been.

Vicki sang folk songs. She strummed the guitar in the key of A. Her music was captivating. Along the way, with Jack Johnson playing banjo, or her brother John playing the guitar and singing along, she was a hit at family reunions, campfires, and chili cook-offs.

She is survived by her husband, Dale McGee, her daughter, Robin Thompson/Staats, her son-in-law, Shawn (Sam) Staats, her foster son, Robert Crisp, her daughter-in-law, Deborah (McGee) Higginson, and her son-in-law, Justin Higginson. She is also survived by her brothers and sisters, Joan (Fewlass) Hoover, Donna (Fewlass) Fockler, Neta (Fewlass) Troxel, Leon (Spike) Fewlass, Charles (Chuck) Fewlass, Camille (Camy) (Fewlass) Filkins, Van Fewlass, and John Fewlass. Her surviving grandchildren are: Rikki Raymond (Gabe Garcia), Randi Raymond, Ronald (Crickett) Raymond, Samuel Staats, and John (Hank) Staats. Her surviving great-grandchildren are Shawn Eberhart, Rex Eberhart, Kyla Pulasky, Karaleigh Hoover (Christian Lipscomb), Kendra Hoover, Kelsie Hoover, Mayci Fox, Wyatt Raymond, Wesley Raymond, and Esther Heater. She has one surviving great-great-grandson, Berry Lipscomb. She is survived by nieces and nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews, and so on...enough to populate a small town. She is also survived by her lifelong friend, Nancy Johnson.

She is preceded in death by her mother, Vera (Lovell) Fewlass, and father, Leon Fewlass, her first husband, Dick Thompson, her son, Rick Thompson II, and her daughter-in-law, Alida (Stephens) Thompson. She is also preceded in death by her sister, Gail Fewlass, Nancy Fewlass, and her brothers, United States Marine Calvin Fewlass and Lynn Fewlass.

In accordance with her wishes, she has been cremated. Her final resting place will be in her family plot at the Manton Fairview Cemetery, Manton, Michigan. A graveside ceremony will be held for Vicki after the snow melts and the flowers bloom in the spring. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the American Cancer Society or your local animal adoption agency.