Victoria Jeanette Ketteler

Victoria Jeanette (Valasek) Ketteler, 69, of Albion, passed away on Friday, February 14, 2025, at the Good Samaritan Society in Albion, Nebraska. To honor Victoria's wishes, her body was cremated. A celebration of her life will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, February 22, 2025, at St. Bonaventure Catholic Church – 2305 South R Road, Raeville, Nebraska. A private inurnment will be held at the St. John's Cemetery in Petersburg, Nebraska. Jacobsen-Greenway-Dietz Funeral Home in St. Paul is assisting the family. In lieu of flowers, the family requests charitable contributions in memory of Victoria Ketteler be made to: Brain Support Network, PO Box 7264, Menlo Park, CA 94026, www.brainsupportnetwork.org.

Victoria was born August 30, 1955, in Spalding, Nebraska, to Andrew John and Jude Ann (Vandenberg) Valasek. She graduated from Spalding Academy in 1973. She married George Cook on Oct. 23, 1973 and they had two children, Sonja and Jesse Cook. Following divorce, Victoria moved to Lincoln and she had two more children, Martin and Amanda VanConet. In 1991, she moved her family to Boulder, Colorado. While there, Victoria attended school and earned credentials as a physical therapist aide, a certified nursing assistant, and a certified massage therapist. She worked for home care in Boulder County and for St. Anthony’s hospital in Denver. In 2007 while volunteering at an alpaca farm in Colorado, Victoria lost part of her right hand. She spent the following year living with Amanda and recovering from the accident. In 2008 she moved to North Carolina and spent time living with Sonja’s family. While in North Carolina, she worked primarily as a physical therapist aide and enjoyed bicycling and running in the coastal region. In 2016, she moved to South Dakota to be nearer to Martin, and Jesse and his family. In 2019, she returned to Nebraska and in 2020, she married Roy Ketteler. Victoria became an active member of both the St. Bonaventure parish in Raeville and the Rae Valley Heritage Association. In 2022, Victoria began seeing several doctors for seemingly unrelated symptoms. The appointments led to consulting a movement disorder specialist in Omaha and the probable diagnosis of Multiple System Atrophy. Victoria succumbed to neurodegenerative disease and passed quietly in the presence of family and friends.

Family members who survive her: husband, Roy Ketteler of Petersburg; daughter, Sonja and Russ Philbrick of Lyman, Maine; son, Jesse and Rita Cook of Wolsey, South Dakota; son, Martin VanConet of Huron, South Dakota; daughter, Amanda VanConet of Malcolm; siblings, Margaret Lee of Lynch, John Valasek of Columbus, Loretta Asche of Malcolm, Rita Hellbusch of Fullerton, and Ann Peterson of Chandler, Arizona; grandchildren, Ryan and Katherine Philbrick of Surprise, Arizona, Helen Philbrick of Lyman, Maine, Cora and Lydia Cook of Wolsey, South Dakota.

She was preceded in death by her parents; sisters, Denise Valasek, Katie Valasek and Mary (Valasek) Koenig; and brother, James Valasek.