Elsie Vycius

Elsie Virginia (née Muth) Vycius, age 87 of Gatesville, passed away peacefully on April 15, 2025 at Shepherd Hills Senior Care, in Tucson, Arizona in the presence of her son Gary and his wife Lani Parker after a short illness that took her home to our Lord and Savior.

Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, May 1, 2025 at Scott’s Funeral Home with Pastor Deral McWhorter officiating. Interment with military honors will be held that afternoon at 3:00 p.m. at Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery, located in Killeen, Texas. 

Elsie was born to Edward A. and Elsie M. (née Echols) Muth in Barrington, New Jersey and moved shortly after with her family to Cherry Hill, New Jersey where her two younger sisters were born. She entered the United States Army, Women’s Army Corps (WAC) in March of 1957 and served until her honorable discharge on October 1, 1958. She married Gary Lee Parker at Fort McArthur, California in September of 1958. Her first son Gary Lee Parker, Jr. was born the following July in 1959. Her second son, Mark James Parker was born at the U.S. Army Hospital in Muenchweiler, Germany in April of 1964. She was married to Gary during his Army career with 2 tours in Vietnam, but later divorced. She then married another Army Veteran, Arvydas (Vic) Vycius in May of 1980, but later divorced in Sept of 1995. Vic was also a career Army Veteran with 4 tours in Vietnam.

Elsie loved bowling, square dancing, and working on word search books. She was an avid walker, and could often be found walking in the local Walmart when the cold weather prevented her from being outdoors. Elsie worked most of her adult life. She worked part-time jobs in the restaurant business and then went to a community college and received an associate’s degree under the GI Bill. This enabled her to obtain employment with Texas Instruments. After leaving TI, she eventually obtained employment at McDonalds in Gatesville, where she worked for over 30 years. 

Elsie was preceded in death by her parents, Elsie M. and Edward A. Muth; sisters, Connie Rae Visconti and Arlene Verna Muth; grandson, Simeon Noah Parker; and ex-spouses, Gary Lee Parker and Arvydas (Vic) Vycius.

She is survived by her sons, Gary L. Parker, Jr. and wife, Lani of Tucson, Arizona, and Mark J. Parker and wife, Kathy of Edwardsville, Illinois; grandson, Marcos J. Parker, his wife Bianca and their three children, Ashley, Jakob, and Logan; granddaughter, Nicole A. Parker, her husband, Jesse Copeland and their four children, Carter, Autumn, Brooklynn, and Delilah; granddaughter, Sarah E. Parker and her fiancé, Nathaniel Huot; and grandson, SYlvane E. Parker. Her extended family in Tucson, Arizona were her daughter-in-law, Lani’s family, including brother, Joel and wife Griselda; niece, Allie & husband Cruz Figueroa and their child, Copelynn; niece, Ashley and husband Julian Blakeman and their children Bowie and Billie; Niece, Carly Crosby; Lani’s daughter, Lauren Gatlin and her children Caitlin, Kenneth, and Jett; daughter, Vanessa Gatlin and her daughters Victoria, Isabella and Christina. Both Griselda and Vanessa were Elsie’s caregivers during her more than 3 year stay with son Gary, Lani and SYlvane.