Vivian Lucille Hida

Vivian Lucille Jones Hida 1932-2023 With great sadness we share that Vivian passed away Sunday, Feb. 26th, 2023, after a stroke two days prior. She had the foresight to write the following: I was born in 1932 at MacNeal Memorial Hospital in Berwyn, IL, a half block from our 1-bedroom apartment. I slept in the living room. I had asthma a lot when I was little. We rode the train overnight in the pullman car to visit my grandparents, both sets living in northwest Missouri. I enjoyed it especially since it was the only place that was air-conditioned—and helped my asthma. The Pullman Porters were the first African Americans I met. When I was 7, we moved to a 2-bedroom lower flat in a different school district. My parents bought an upright piano soon after we moved, and a new Baldwin when I was 10 or 11. I took lessons from the age of 8. When I was in the 5th grade, it was decided that I skip a semester—one of the worst things that happened to me. Kids in both new and old classes really didn’t want me—the work was no problem but the socialization was. Highschool (there was no junior high) was two bus rides away in Cicero, a lily-white city. School was very overcrowded; we went only half-days: afternoons for freshmen and sophomores, mornings for juniors and seniors—5000 students in total. I was encouraged to take sewing, cooking and typing rather than math, etc. I went to Junior College for one year in the same building as the high school. I took piano lessons through my junior year of high school, then one year of organ. I was the church organist during my year in Junior College. I then went to Iowa State University—for no particular reason other than my cousin went there. I didn’t participate in extra-curricular activities in high school or college. After college, I moved home and worked for an oil insurance company as a draftsman for one year. I then decided to move to Milwaukee where I had friends. I didn’t have a job or place to live, but I soon found both. I worked for Cutler-Hammer as a draftsman for 5 years and was active in the YMCA social group downtown. I was member of the League of Women Voters for over 50 years, the American Guild of Organists, and the Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church Choir for over 50 years. I did serve on various church committees and held various positions of responsibility. Vivian met Allan Hida in the Methodist Church Choir in downtown Milwaukee. They soon married, had daughter Susan, bought a home in Wauwatosa, and had son Gary. After child-rearing, Vivian and Allan thrived in their empty nest: traveling to “Elderhostels” worldwide, spending time with the neighbors and friends, and tending to needs of their aging parents. In 2005, Vivian convinced Allan to sell their Wauwatosa home of 45 years and migrate westward for the day THEY needed assistance. The Hida’s moved into a 2-bedroom cottage at Eskaton Senior Living in Carmichael. Vivian played handbells with the “Eskatone’s”, accompanied vocalists on piano for variety shows, knitted baby caps for the “Mad Hatters”, and participated in the Book Club. The extremely progressive St. Mark’s United Methodist Church was their church home. Her activities continued until COVID when all activities ceased. She would not be able to visit Allan who had previously moved into Assisted Living, and then Memory Care- for six months. It troubled her not ever knowing if he understood why. He passed on Dec. 7th, 2020. Having become more physically--but not mentally—frail, she downsized into Assisted Living in 2021. Still, she could walk short distances with a walker, participate in balloon volleyball, drive her mobility scooter over to the main building; she had her head together. It was a blessing that Gary was able to visit for a nice long weekend early in February. The stroke occurred 11 days later. She was endeared by many caregivers as their favorite: for listening, conversing intelligently, being up on politics, being firm but polite in expressing her needs. She was a mother until the end; wanting to hear from her kids after getting back from a trip; sending cards on special occasions; loving daughter-in-law Lisa and son-in-law Jimmy as her own. She was a devoted spouse: enabling her husband to work and be active in the community, seeing that he had quality care as an advanced Parkinson’s patient, funding his charities after his passing—as well as her own. Vivian’s children are grateful to friends and family members for being a part of her life and making her who she was; for helping us remember “the small stuff” from decades past, and for filling us in on parts we missed. Please pay it forward as we endeavor to do the same.