Lucille Viola Wulff
Lucille Wulff’s Celebration of Life
Lucille Viola Nedegaard Wulff was born in Askov, Minnesota on December 2, 1921. She grew up on a farm with 10 brothers and sisters: Emery, Margaret Lunde, Ivo Jacobsen, Arnum (died young), Mabel Peterson, Jack, Lucille Wulff, Irene Madsen, Dickie (died young), and Cora Vandecar.
Life was difficult in Minnesota, so the children started to move to the Danish community of Solvang. Ivo was 16, Margaret was 17, and Emery was 19. They sent money back home when they could. Emery got a job in a dairy and the girls got jobs in Santa Barbara as maids. Every Thursday and every other Sunday there were dances in Solvang at Atterdag College. Then, when Lucille was 15, she got on the train with her lunch and $5.00 and set off for Solvang. When she arrived they picked her up and took her to the Sunday dance where she met and danced with Viggo (Vic) Wulff. She worked with Ivo on the Jacobsen dairy. Then she became a maid in Hope Ranch in Santa Barbara. After she worked there awhile, the woman asked her to cook. She said she didn’t know how to cook, so her employer gave her a cookbook. Lucille became a very good cook, and one year she got an award for being the best cook in Santa Ynez Valley where they lived.
Lucille and Vic dated for 6 years and married in Las Vegas on Feb. 15, 1942. In humor, Vic often said it was the biggest gamble of his life. Vic worked for the shipyard during the war, and Lucille worked for the Air Force under contract, and they farmed in Rolling Hills.
Lucille and Vic had two sons: Alfred Earl Wulff and Eric Alan Wullf. They moved back to Santa Ynez in 1954 and farmed the Mitchell ranch together. Some of the many jobs Lucille had were: waitress, bookkeeper at the Red Barn, bookkeeper and teller at the bank, assistant and bookkeeper for cattle rancher Cornelius. She also did the banking for Bethania Church and kept the Christmas fund for Atterdag Village. She was very good with money and a hard worker; she was a woman who you could trust.
The most important thing to Vic and Lucille was family. They had many relatives living in Solvang, and frequent dinners were held at their home. She loved to cook and set a beautiful table. Two things she was famous for were her Peanut Clusters and Bacon Crackers.
Lucille loved to work in her beautiful garden and excelled at flower arrangements. After Vic died she worked hard in the garden. When we went to see her, she said she was working hard and thought about moving up to Atterdag because she was lonely and her gardening was not as satisfying as before. She did make the move in 2002. Everyone at Atterdag loved her and she loved them. She took an active role in all of the events and loved their many parties. She dressed up and put on her jewelry every day. She had costumes for every holiday.
Lucille and Vic loved their boys, Alfred and Eric, and were so proud of them.
Alfred was married to Danna Toomey and is now married to Janet. Alfred and Danna have one daughter (Nicole) and two sons (Richard and Troy). Richard is married to Annie and they have 3 children (Amanda, Jacob and Lucas). Amanda Nelson is married to Brendan, Lucas is married to Alexiss, and Jacob is married to Jordan. Nicole is married to John Arabia. Nicole has 3 girls, Erica Torina who is married to Blake; Ashley Scurria who is married to Stuart; and Morgan Lee. Troy Wulff has 2 children, Naomi and Tory Wulff. Alfred has 8 grandchildren and 4 great grandchil- dren.
Eric was married to Jeanette Jenkins. They have two daughters (Carolina and Tami) and one son (Rob). Carolina Aguirre, whose partner is Doc Gumfrey, has lived in Wyoming for over 20 years. Carolina has two sons – Santiago and Miguel – and 6 grand- children. Their son Rob lives in Santa Ynez and is a plumber with Smith Electric. He and his former wife, Jeannie Halverson, have two daughters – Kaylee and Kasey. Tami married Richard Myer and has two children, Skyler and Torin. She has a great job and they live in Illinois. Eric and Betty Elings Wells have been together for 26 years and come to Solvang every weekend except when traveling. They both loved Vic, who died in 2000, and Lucille, who was a mother to both Eric and Betty.
Memorial Funeral Service will be Saturday June 4th at 11:00 am at Bethania Lutheran Church in Solvang, CA
Donation’s in Lucille’s name to: Bethania Lutheran Church, Atterdag Village and/or VNA Health in Solvang
Loper Funeral Chapel, Directors