Vicki Lorraine Kaufman of Quincy passed peacefully at 84 years of age from heart failure. She will be remembered as a beloved mother, sister, grandmother, and aunt, and she will be deeply missed by her family and the many friends whose lives she touched.

Vicki was a woman of deep substance and consequence. Born in Quincy, she graduated from Quincy High School, class of 59’, and Boston University in 1963 with a Bachelor of Arts in English. Her life’s work was shaped by a deep desire to improve the lives of others through advancing equality. She was a founder and President of the South Shore Coalition for Human Rights, past President of DOVE, the domestic violence shelter in Quincy. She was a Sunday School teacher at Quincy Community Methodist Church as well as Treasurer and Board Member of the American Society of Public Administration. She served as President of the Boston University Alumni Association, Chair of Ward 3 Republican Committee, and Host of SERVE providing food distribution in New Hampshire. Vicki was a gubernatorial appointee as a Massachusetts State Library Commissioner, and later she served as a Trustee of the Weymouth Library during the construction of the new Tufts Library building. She worked professionally as a Civil Rights Investigator for the Department of Health and Human Services, and her work helped lead to hospitals providing ASL translators to patients in need. Vicki was tireless in her efforts to give of herself to her community, and her work in the area of Civil Rights was truly remarkable.

Vicki’s passions included reading and politics; she was a lifelong bibliophile and political activist. Everyone who met her commented on her kindness, her humility, and her remarkable ability to read multiple books at one time. She was tireless in her political activities volunteering countless hours for the causes in which she believed deeply. Her commitment to Civil Rights led to many dear friendships including with Mel King, and she spent time volunteering on his Boston mayoral campaigns. Vicki’s love of reading, libraries, and politics are not the sum and substance of her story, but it is incomplete without understanding the gravity of importance they held. Vicki was kind, thoughtful, and extremely intelligent.

She is survived by her two daughters Wendy Mastronardi and husband Paul of Melrose, and Amy Speer of Saugus and husband Michael, her brother Ronald Kaufman of Boston, D.C., and Maine, grandsons Sawyer, Jeffrey, Benjamin, Sean, and Justin. She is also survived by her nieces and nephews Jessica McAuliffe and family, Joshua, Matthew, and A.J Knowles and families, Carly Chandler and family of Athens, GA, and Kathryn “Katie” Coffman and family of Lexingtong, KY. Vicki is preceded in death by her sister Gilda and her parents Ed and Althea Kaufman.

Visitation to honor Vicki’s life of service will be held on July 2nd at Keohane’s Funeral Home in Quincy on Hancock Street from 4-6 p.m with a funeral home service at 6 p.m. Donations to honor her memory may be made to the American Civil Liberties Union. https://action.aclu.org/give/make-gift-aclu-someones-memory or by mail at 125 Broad Street, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10004