WILMINGTON — Vicki Talbot Gupton Parkinson died peacefully surrounded by her family on January 26, 2022, at New Hanover Regional Medical Center following a stroke. Vicki was born on February 20, 1947, in Rocky Mount, NC to the late Lisbeth Reid (Barnhill) Gupton and Lt. Col. Samuel Arrington Gupton. She grew up multiple places with her family based in the US, Canada, and Germany where she learned her love for travel and exploring foreign cultures; her favorite station was Kaiserslautern, Germany. The family moved to Wilmington, NC when her father retired from the Army and Vicki graduated from New Hanover High School in 1965. She loved art and art history and initially attended Wilmington College; however, her studies were interrupted by marriage and the birth of her daughter, Heather. She ultimately graduated from East Carolina University with a BFA in 1975.
She moved to Chapel Hill, NC with her daughter, eventually working at UNC Hospitals. She met her husband, John, in Chapel Hill and they were married on November 11, 1977. The family settled in Wilmington, NC in 1980. Later, Vicki was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis and underwent a bilateral lung transplant at Duke University Medical Center in 2001.
Vicki loved gardening, art, interior design, cooking and travel, and attempting French, Italian and German. She read voraciously, finishing multiple books a week. She loved to watch British mysteries. She had great fun playing mahjongg and dominoes with her friends. She was funny, smart, beautiful, kind and caring, and a beloved wife, mother, sister, grandmother and aunt. She is greatly missed.
Vicki is survived by her husband of 44 years, Dr. John Parkinson; her daughter, Dr. Heather Shaw, and granddaughter, Phoebe Kroll, both of Durham, NC; her sister, Sue Simmons, and brother-in-law Patrick of Raleigh, NC; her brother, David Gupton, and sister-in-law Sharon of Cary, NC; nephews Reid Simmons, Sam Gupton and Will Gupton; and her sister-in-law, Margaret (Parkinson) Cook and husband Chuck of St. Helena Island, SC
A memorial service will be held on February 26th, 2022 at 2pm in Landfall’s Kenan Chapel. Friends and family are invited to the Parkinson home for a reception following the service.
The family would like to give special thanks for Dr. Scott Palmer and the Lung Transplant Program of Duke Hospital and Dr. Christopher Cosgrove of Intracoastal Internal Medicine in Wilmington.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, your local animal shelter, or the Lung Transplant Program at Duke University Hospital.
