A Lifetime a Legacy: Vicki Feeney

Vicki Feeney was a beacon of community and caregiving in Sea Isle City. Beloved by her family, friends, and colleagues for her determined work ethic and beaming, ear-to-ear smile, Vicki was a dedicated public servant for decades. She worked tirelessly as Sea Isle’s first full-time recreation director for 33 years, while also parenting two sons, Sean and Brendan, with her husband, Bill.

“Vicki meant everything to me,” Feeney says of his late wife, who died last October at the age of 59. “She was beautiful, she was fun. She always supported me in my endeavors, and I supported her. She did such a tremendous job raising our two boys.”

Born Vicki Jo Freeman in Gettysburg, Pa., on July 1, 1965, to parents Dorothy “Dottie” and Nelson “Dusty” Freeman of Littlestown, Pa., she was a lifelong athlete. She played seasonal sports such as field hockey, basketball, and softball, but specialized in volleyball and lacrosse as the years went on.

After graduating from Littlestown High School, she would go on to play lacrosse at Division II Lock Haven University. An affinity for athletics inspired her to pursue a degree in sports and recreation, which would serve her well for years to come. During her time at Lock Haven, Vicki began her career in recreation by serving as the intramural sports director for the school.

Upon graduation, Vicki moved to New York City to work at the Big Apple YMCA. But her stint there was short-lived when one day she saw a job listing for a recreation director position in Sea Isle City. “She actually picked up a New York Times and saw it listed in the jobs wanted section,” her husband says. “But she had never even heard of Sea Isle City at the time.”

Originally coming from outside the local community, the South-Central Pennsylvania native brought fresh perspective and determination to successfully establish and grow Sea Isle City’s recreation department.

"Her new job had its challenges,” says Cheryl Castor, who was hired by Vicki in 1987 and worked with her in the recreation department for nearly 30 years. “She encountered a few obstacles along the way, but faced them with resilience and determination.”

Starting off her career in Sea Isle began with gaining the trust and respect from established community leaders. Early in her tenure, Vicki would face pushbacks while trying to create recreation programs or improve facilities. She remained determined and ultimately, she oversaw countless projects throughout Sea Isle City’s parks and public spaces.

“She pushed forward, and there was nothing stopping her,” Castor says. “You can go from Strathmere to Townsend’s Inlet, there are projects up and down the island where you can see Vicki.”

Under Vicki’s leadership, Sea Isle City saw improvements to the Promenade, the construction of Excursion Park, and even garnered national recognition for the revitalization of the Dealy Park playground. Says Castor: “‘Good enough’ was not in her vocabulary.”

While the list of Vicki’s accomplishments is long, her colleagues remember her best for treating staff members as members of a family.

“Vicki was amazing,” says Stephanie Garreffi, who worked with Vicki for 20 years. “She had a larger-than-life personality. She was humble, but she lit up a room. She was very professional but made us all feel like a family. We liked to call ourselves ‘The Fantastic Four,’” referring to the team of herself, Vicki, Cheryl Castor, and Nicole Holt.

Coworkers enjoying a night out are (from left) Nicole Holt, Vicki Feeney, Denise Weinerman, Frank Edwardi Sr., Cheryl Castor, Stephanie Garreffi.

The Feeney family

Together they were an unstoppable work family, undertaking many community projects, and establishing numerous recreational activities, sports, and clubs for Sea Isle City.

Outside of being very close coworkers and friends, their family-like bond reached far beyond the walls of their office.

“She was extremely flexible and family-oriented,” Garreffi says.

“Vicki was just so incredibly supportive,” Castor adds. “Far beyond what she needed to be as an employer.”

Over decades of employment together, “The Fantastic Four” were always there for each other, through the good times and the bad.

“We all had family health issues throughout those years,” Castor says. “We’ve had family members pass away, and Vicki made sure that everyone was available to attend funerals and memorial services for each other. Even if they weren’t local, Vicki made sure we could travel to be there for one another.”

Though Vicki was in charge, she never lost her motherly compassion. “She could be a bit … let’s say, demanding,” Garreffi says with a laugh. “She kept us in line, but she was like a mother figure to all of us. She was very professional when she needed to be, but was also very soft and understanding as well.”

Those motherly instincts at work were no doubt inspired by her real-life experience as a mother, raising her sons Sean and Brendan, whom she adored. “Family was literally everything to her,” Garreffi says. “She lived for her boys. They were her entire world.”

Sharing that love for their sons and surviving Vicki is Bill, her devoted husband of 29 years. Feeney, a Sea Isle City native and retired police officer, first met Vicki at a local public services softball tournament that she helped organize. He was surprised when he put the name to the face.

“I was honestly just very attracted to her,” Feeney explains. “We didn’t talk too much because I didn’t even know who she was. So, I asked a couple of people, ‘Who’s that girl?’ and I was surprised to find out that that was Vicki.”

Vicki’s esteemed reputation led Feeney to think that she was much older: “I didn’t realize she was this young, vibrant, beautiful, athletic woman.”

Once the softball tournament concluded and Feeney worked up the nerve to talk to her, the pair bonded over their mutual connection to Lock Haven University, as well as their love for sports.

Feeney, a wrestler in his youth and eventual wrestling coach, noted that Lock Haven had a prestigious wrestling program, and that Sea Isle was lacking one. From there, the two athletics coaches and community activists sought to bring wrestling to Sea Isle City. And for Feeney, wrestling wasn’t the only perk.

“One of the reasons why I started the wrestling program was to have something for Vicki and I to talk about, and for us to get together,” he says. “Though I really love wrestling and I enjoy coaching the young men who wrestle, a lot of the motivation behind it was getting to know Vicki better.”

From there, the two worked closely together, running Sea Isle City’s wrestling program with Feeney volunteering as a coach. Meetings became lunches, lunches became dinners, and eventually the work partners became much more. Over the years, before settling down, the couple enjoyed going out to dinner in Atlantic City and Philadelphia. They also traveled as much as they could, often catching baseball games in Chicago, and skiing in Upstate New York.

Coworkers that are more like family (from left): Tina Gansert, Vicki Feeney, and Stephanie Garreffi.

Celebrating an award at the Sea Isle City Marina are (from left) Stephanie Garreffi, Nicole Holt, Kathy Edwardi, Vicki Feeney, and Cheryl Castor.

After years of dating, Feeney finally proposed, and the couple traveled to Key West, Fla., on May 5, 1995, to tie the knot in an intimate setting.

“We got married on a sailboat at sunset, and it wasn’t a destination wedding,” Feeney says. “It was just Vicki and I, and the captain, and the first mate who served as the witness … Cinco de Mayo was a great day because I could never forget, I wouldn’t forget that.”

In time, the couple welcomed their two sons who were born within two years of each other, and were destined to be baseball fans like their parents.

Recalls Feeney: “On August 23rd when Sean was born and on May 1st when Brendan was born, the Phillies were playing on the West Coast, and the game was playing on the TV in the [maternity ward] both nights, and on both nights, they won … We were blessed with having wonderful children, and I would never trade that for anything.”

Even before having children, the Feeneys coached a variety of youth sports. Once they did have kids, they continued to coach, and loved cheering on not just their sons, but the entire Sea Isle City community in organized sports such as football, basketball, baseball, volleyball, and, of course, wrestling. The Feeney family also enjoyed spending time together on their boat or on the beach.

Vicki’s loved ones rave about her affinity for the salt and the sea, as she could get a tan like no one else.

“She loved the beach, everything the beach,” Garreffi says. “If she wasn’t at work or with her family, she always wanted to be on the beach, playing beach volleyball, that was her thing.”

“I kid you not, go to Starbucks and get a black coffee,” Feeney says of his wife’s tan. “That’s what Vicki would look like in the summertime.”

To keep that tan going, the Feeneys invested in an apartment in the South Beach neighborhood of Miami, which became a longtime vacation destination for the family.

Vicki (right) at the Chamber of Commerce Around the World Social with fellow board members and friends.

That downtime was well deserved for the parents, who were able to manage two busy careers with irregular schedules.

“I would work crazy hours of [police] shift work or be assigned to the detective bureau,” Feeney says. “Sometimes I’d get off the midnight shift and walk into the house as she’s walking out the door to take the boys to school.”

Those demanding hours, however, were not limited to Bill’s schedule. As the recreation director, Vicki’s was often the first and only number that members of the Sea Isle City community were able to call.

“Vicki worked crazy hours as well,” Feeney explains. “Especially during the summer, our phone would ring constantly with parents or other people unhappy with the volunteer coaches, that they didn’t think their child played enough … The phone would ring off the hook. Vicki’s job sometimes felt like it was 24 hours.”

Toward the end of Vicki’s career, many of the Feeney and Freeman family members became ill. Who else but Vicki was there to step up and take care of not only her husband’s parents and siblings, but also her own parents when the time came.

Before retiring, Vicki would rearrange her work schedule to keep her father-in-law company, make him meals, and take him to doctor’s appointments. In 2019, both of her husband’s siblings became sick with cancerous illnesses. With their sons both grown and out of the house, Vicki didn’t hesitate to let her brother-in-law John and sister-in-law Ele stay with them.

“There was nothing that she wouldn’t do for the people that she loved,” Bill says. “A lot of times, nobody even had to ask, she just did it, because it was the right thing to do … she was a very giving, caring, and loving person.”

Vicki retired after 33 years of service for the Sea Isle City recreation department, but her break was short-lived. She went to stay with her parents, to help care for both of them. They had Vicki at their side for six months, until her father died on April 29, 2023.

Her mother, who suffered from Parkinson’s disease, was moved into the Feeney home in Sea Isle following her father’s death. “Vicki never had any hesitation to take care of any of our family members, which speaks volumes of how kind, warm-hearted, and gentle she was,” Feeney says.

After years of caring for sick family members, it was during her mother’s care when Vicki started to notice something was amiss with her own health. She began feeling a twitch in her side, which her doctor theorized was just a pulled muscle from nursing her mother. “There were all types of excuses,” Feeney says. Tragically, that twitch was much more, and rapidly shifted the course of the Feeneys’ lives.

“I was working a security job at the time,” Feeney explains. “I think it was about July 29th, my phone rings, and it’s Vicki. I knew something was wrong. I immediately thought something had happened to Sean or Brendan, but Vicki told me that she had been diagnosed with Stage 4, possibly liver cancer.”

The Feeney family had a shared love for baseball. Vicki and Bill with their sons Sean and Brandan.

This diagnosis made no sense to either of them, as Vicki hardly ever drank, if at all. According to her husband, the last party the couple attended, she didn’t even finish a glass of wine. Nonetheless, they had no time to question how it had happened and sprang into action to figure out how to fight it. “We immediately started working the phones,” Feeney says. “We got our appointment at the University of Penn … Everything moved at warp speed for us.”

During her battle with cancer, her diagnosis became specified as bile duct cancer, a rare form of liver-related cancer often diagnosed in later stages. By then, the cancer had already strengthened greatly, but Vicki never lost hope.

“When she was in the hospital for the last month of her life, she never complained,” Feeney says. “She knew she had cancer, but she didn’t complain because she was determined that she was going to beat it. Some of the medical staff couldn’t even believe her attitude.”

As Vicki underwent chemotherapy, it was difficult for her husband, who had to watch his strong and athletic wife slowly wither away. “Vicki was disappearing before our eyes,” he says. “She was in very good shape, but you could just see her getting weaker.”

Too proud for her own good, Vicki kept her diagnosis from friends and family, outside of her husband, who quit his job and became her primary caretaker.

In early October, during one of her chemotherapy sessions, doctors discovered that her white blood cell count was too high, causing her immune system to inadvertently attack healthy organs in a process known as sepsis. “The chemo was doing more harm than good,” Feeney relates.

From then it was only a matter of time, as Vicki was only given months to live by her doctors. It was then that family members and friends began to learn about her cancer diagnosis, many of whom got the chance to say goodbye to their beloved friend and relative. On Oct. 23, 2024, Vicki Feeney died after a three-month battle with cancer.

Fortunately, Vicki was an organ donor. Late into the night of her passing, Feeney got a call from the hospital saying they wanted to save Vicki’s corneas and give them to two patients in need of eye transplants. “With Vicki’s corneas, she would give the gift of sight to somebody who never had it, and restore sight to someone who lost it,” he says.

Without hesitation, Feeney and his sons gave their approval to move forward with the organ donation. Today, Feeney is thankful that his late wife’s beauty and charitability still grace the world. “I just hope that those two recipients get to see how beautiful and wonderful the world is, just as Vicki saw it through her big, brown, beautiful eyes,” Feeney says. “Vicki did everything the right way, including after she went home with the angels.”

After managing to get through Thanksgiving and Christmas without her, this year for Mother’s Day, the Feeney family commemorated Vicki’s life, as well as that of their grandmother Dottie, who died Dec. 7, 2024, by traveling to Cleveland on Mother’s Day weekend to cheer on their Fightin’ Phillies.

Those closest to Vicki know that their cherished “Dancing Queen” is up in heaven, dancing the night away to ABBA and singing her and her husband’s beloved cover of “What a Wonderful World” by the late Hawaiian singer/musician Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. Her friends and neighbors will miss seeing Vicki pass by on her daily walks and runs. The Feeney household won’t be the same without Vicki’s excessive hollers of “Hello!” or “Hola!” when her husband and children arrive home. “I would love to hear her yell that one more time,” Feeney says. “Unfortunately, tomorrow doesn’t always come.”

While the Feeney family is now unquestionably changed, the Sea Isle City community will be without one of its greatest contributors in Vicki Feeney. Vicki’s lasting impact on public spaces and community services will be felt for decades to come. As Stephanie Garreffi puts it, “She was an asset to Sea Isle … beyond an asset to Sea Isle.”

While his wife’s untimely passing is difficult for Feeney to wrap his head around, he hopes and prays that it was all part of a plan.

“I’m not trying to Bible thump or preach by any means, but it really is a mystery how the Lord works,” he says. “I don’t have to understand it, but the good Lord had his plan, and I just hope that he’s taking care of my bride right now.”

Vicki is survived by her husband Bill, her sons Sean (Kaitlyn) and Brendan, her sister Pamela (Mark) Taylor, her brother Michael Freeman, her niece Danielle Taylor, her nephew Connor Taylor, William Feeney III, and Christina Feeney.