Vikki K. Siegel, age 83, of Schooley's Mountain, NJ died Saturday, November 24, 2012 at Morristown Memorial Hospital, Morristown, NJ. Vikki was born May 29, 1929 in Newark, NJ. She is the daughter of the late Harry Jacobs and Anita Karcher. She is predeceased by her husband, Late Martin Siegel in 2009. 

Vikki assisted her mother Anita with the family Beauty Shop business in her youth. Later, she began a modeling career and it was during this portion of her life that she met Marty Siegel and they married. They started their family in West Orange, NJ and Vikki discovered that there was interest in her painting ability by the American Visionary Printmaker, Ralph Fabri. It was during this portion of her life she came to the attention of our 34th President, Dwight Eisenhower, who commissioned her to paint a portrait of him. Vikki's next venture was the creation of an "Art Colony", a place where local artists could sell their works to the public. Meanwhile, her son Brad had developed a passion for horses which ultimately led to Vikki creating a private riding academy with friends in 1972 known as Suburban Essex Riding Club. Her success with this venture led to the creation of Snowbird Acres Farms in 1978, owned entirely by the Siegel family and managed by both Steffi and Torri. Vikki's accomplishments in the NJ horse industry includes appointment as Director of the NJ Horse Council, by then Gov. Christine Whitman to the NJ Sire Stakes Committee, a member of the Leadership Council of the National Federation of Independent Business of NJ and co-chairman of the NJ Delegation. She was a member of the US Equestrian Federation Committee for Competition Management and was formerly on the Sunshine Task Force and was also on the Hunter Task Force; Vikki was  Honorary State Chairman for the Business Advisory Committee of the National Republican Congressional Committee among other appointments. Vikki was instrumental in passing The Equine Liability Protection Law, # PL 1997 c. 287.

She is survived by a son, Bradford Siegel; daughters Stephanie Siegel and Torri Siegel Dragos and her husband John; 7 Grandchildren, Lauren, Jenna, Greg, Marty, Skylar Noah And Zack.

The funeral will be held 4:00 pm on Monday, December 3, 2012 at Cochran Funeral Home, 905 High Street, Hackettstown, N.J. Interment is private

Calling hours will be Monday, December 3, 2012 from 2:00 - 4:00 pm at Cochran Funeral Home, Inc., 905 High Street, Hackettstown, N.J.
In lieu of flowers, donations to the following horse rescue organizations, mylestoneequinerescue.org ( 227 Still Valley Road, Phillipsburg, NJ 08855) or canterusa.org
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