Victoria Marie Coppola

Victoria Marie (Gudgel) Coppola (b. 11/27/63) passed from this realm on October 31, 2023 at home with her husband Jim of 24 years and their beloved fur baby George after nothing short of a heroic battle against aggressive cancer. Vikki showed us all what it meant to be a warrior with grace, and we will miss her incredibly.

Vikki was a passionate Elementary Education teacher, loving second grade most of all. Her classrooms were impeccable safe havens of creativity, education and love, her colleagues allies in a the quest for teaching all the young ones, and they remember her thoughtful and handmade gifts given at holidays and birthdays, and faculty breakfasts at the beautiful home she kept with Jim among the tall trees. Vikki was a devoted rescuer of shelter dogs, including sweet George, and worked sometimes at White Deer Park Nature Center surrounded by nature.

A graduate of Amherst High School and Buffalo State College, Vikki was preceded in death by her father David Gudgel and her mother Mary Gudgel. She leaves behind her many cherished cousins, aunts and uncles and Jim’s siblings who loved her like a true sister: Lisa, Joe, Paul, Laura and Cara, and their respective spouses Glenn, Liz, Patty and Tory, along with beloved nieces and nephews who Vikki and Jim always remembered at every birthday and Christmas: Maria, Zack, Nick, John, Michael, Ryan, Kelsey, Hannah, Keira, Anabelle, Molly, Jack, Sierra and Willow.

A joyful celebration of Vikki’s life will be held at White Deer Park Nature Center on Saturday November 11th from 2 to 5pm, we hope to see you there. Be colorful! We will have snacks, music and readings in that beautiful setting she loved so much, Vikki wanted her memorial to be a happy party that focuses on how to keep helping others in this world. We hope you will join us.

In Lieu of flowers please make donations to RUFF Animal Rescue in Garner, NC https://www.ncruff.org/ or to Cause for Paws in Raleigh, NC https://cfp-nc.org/