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Violet (Vie) Laudel Pratt van Bergen

Dec. 5, 1918-Dec. 22, 2011

Vie Laudel Pratt van Bergen died at her home in Glen Ellen, three weeks after celebrating her 93rd birthday.

She was born in Latham, Mo., the fifth of seven children. Her family moved to Berkeley when she was 6 years old.

She graduated from Berkeley High School. At 16, Vie started singing with Dick Foy and the Persianettes at the St. Francis and Palace Hotels in San Francisco. Later, she became an accomplished equestrian.

She married George Thompson in 1949 and moved to Sonoma, Valley of the Moon. She and George owned and managed the Sonoma Mission Inn until George’s death. Vie continued to own and manage the Sonoma Mission Inn until it was sold to the Bristol family of Sunset magazine in the late 1970s.

Vie married Dr. Rob Pratt, a professor at UC. Vie was delighted that Peter Bird used her ranch at Beau du Lac to build his rowboat (“Hele on Brittania”) for his solo voyage across the Pacific (Aug. 23, 1982 to June 14, 1983).

In 1989, she married Henry van Bergen who passed away in January 2008.

She is survived by two siblings, Del Laudel, of Mercer Island, Wash. and Velma Haesloop, Walnut Creek; and niece, Joan Haesloop; nephew, Al Laudel; and many grand-nieces and grand-nephews. Vie loved animals, especially her horses and cats. She will be remembered for her charm, wit and beauty, both inside and out.

Arrangements under the direction of
Duggan’s Mission Chapel
Mission Cremation Service
525 W. Napa St.
Sonoma, CA.95476