Vicky Sue Paxton

Vicky Sue Paxton, of Sparta, entered Heaven’s gates on Oct. 13, 2025, at the age of 61, after a four-year battle with multiple cancers. Born Vicky Sue Blake, she entered this world on Dec. 19, 1963, to Charles James Blake and Nancy “Sue” Blake in Parsons, Kan. Vicky was the oldest of five kids and the only girl with four younger brothers. Growing up, her family moved often. She lived in several different states including Oklahoma, Missouri and California, but always found her way back home to Kansas. As a child and teen, Vicky could be found horseback riding, roller skating at the roller rink, spending summers with aunts and cousins, and helping her parents take care of her brothers. She graduated from Parsons High School in the spring of 1982 and then made her way to MidAmerica Nazarene College (now University) that fall, where she attended for one year.  Vicky grew up in the Nazarene church and one of her favorite places to attend during the summer was church camp at Camp Sagmount in Joplin. She started out as a camper, but transitioned into a counselor as she got older. It was during one of these summer camps where she met her future husband. As she tells it, the moment she saw him, she turned to her friend and said, “I’m going to marry him one day.” She did just that a few years later.  Vicky married her husband of 40 years, Mark Lewis Paxton, on June 14, 1985, in Olathe, Kan. A year later, they welcomed their only child, a daughter, Ashley Dawn Paxton, on Oct. 20, 1986. In 1990, Mark and Vicky packed up their little house and their daughter and moved three and half hours south to Mansfield, where they lived for 14 years. During their stay here, Vicky took a couple correspondence courses through Missouri State University (then Southwest Missouri State University, SMS) in elementary education. She earned enough credits to be able to substitute teach in several of the elementary schools in the surrounding areas. She enjoyed working with kids from a young age and always wanted to be a teacher. She ended her teaching career by homeschooling Ashley through junior high and high school.
In December of 2003, Vicky’s family once again moved to Sparta Missouri when she lived until her death. Vicky loved to attend NASCAR races, dirt track races in Wheatland, Springfield Cardinals games and PBR events. She loved to cross stitch, play games on her computer and phone, read and was a huge history buff. She was always eager to learn the history of old places. Vicky was preceded in death by her father, Charles; one brother, Joe Blake; both maternal and paternal grandparents; and several aunts and uncles. She’s survived by her mom, Sue; husband, Mark; daughter, Ashley; three brothers, Robert (Claudia) Blake, of Sun City Center, Fla.; Terry (Lee) Blake, of Nebo, N.C.; and Russell Blake, of Paola, Kan.; her best friend, Ila Brooks, of Corry, Pa.; and a host of other aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and friends.