DAIKER (Galotta), Victoria Ann “Vicky”
Victoria Ann (Galotta) Daiker passed away peacefully at her longtime Oxford home on December 10, 2023. She was 83. Vicky was born on July 13, 1940 in Washington, D.C. and grew up in suburban Washington and Maryland. She attended high school at the Academy of the Holy Names in Silver Spring and earned a full scholarship to Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart, where she was editor-in-chief of her college newspaper and graduated, summa cum laude, third in her class. Vicky attended graduate school in English at Indiana University, Bloomington, where she taught classes in composition, earned a masters degree, and passed her doctoral examinations with distinction. Coming to Oxford in 1964, she taught classes at Western College for Women and at Miami University-Middletown and Miami University-Hamilton.
Then, with four children under ten, she attended the University of Cincinnati College of Law full time, earning her Juris Doctor degree in 1977. As an attorney, Vicky served for twenty years as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney of Butler County and as Chief of its Civil Division. She especially enjoyed working with county commissioners and township trustees. At the same time she maintained an active part-time private practice, specializing in domestic relations. It’s no accident that her four children followed her into law.
Vicky met Don Daiker in Bloomington in a graduate class in bibliography in the fall of 1961, and it didn’t take long for them to fall in love and to know that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. They were married the following spring.
Vicky is known for her delightful laugh, her warm sense of humor, and her generosity. One of her colleagues wrote, “Vicky was such a good friend—gracious and generous, warm and funny and wise. We felt lucky to have her for our attorney, too. I have often said that if I were ever involved in a lawsuit with Vicky on the other side, I’d throw in the towel immediately. I don’t know how she found the time to be such a staunch and tireless advocate for others and also to be one of the best-read people I’ve ever known. I don’t think I ever read a novel she hadn’t. We’ll miss her.”
In addition to books, Vicky loved gardening, her house on Spring Street, trips to the Shaw and Shakespeare festivals, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the New York Times, movies, European travels—especially to Venice and Florence, Italy—, summer weeks with her family at Pawley’s Island, South Carolina, and diet cream soda. But most of all, she loved it that her children loved each other.
Vicky is preceded in death by her parents, Dante and Olga Galotta, and by her younger sister Dana Galotta Young. She is survived by her husband, Donald, and their four children: Pamela Ann Daiker-Middaugh (Kenneth, deceased) and grandchildren Daniel and Rebecca of Brecksville, Ohio; Stephen Barrett Daiker (Diane) and grandchildren Caroline, Annemarie, and Olivia of St. Louis, Missouri; Paul Bryan Daiker (Elizabeth) and grandchildren Jack, Aidan, and Quinn of Broadview Heights, Ohio; and Matthew Melville Daiker (Kristina) and grandchildren Maddy and Thomas of Dublin, Ohio. Mass of Christian Burial will take place at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 20 at St. Mary Church, 111 E. High Street, Oxford, with Father Jeff Silver officiating. It will be followed by a private burial service at Mt. Olivet cemetery in Oxford. There will be a Memorial Gathering at the Ogle & Paul R. Young Funeral Home, 5086 College Corner Pike, Oxford from 1:30 to 3:30 with everyone invited. Tributes will begin at about 2 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a contribution in Vicky’s name to Doctors Without Borders, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Alzheimers Association, or your favorite charity. Condolences may be sent to www.paulyoungfuneralhome. com