Hi Sun Readers! Last week an article was published about the Seal Beach Police Volunteers in Policing (VIP) celebrating their 25th anniversary.
This week, I’d like to highlight one of the original VIP’s, Vonnie Schulten.
Vonnie began her career as a VIP the year the group began and has been serving the SBPD and Seal Beach community for 25 years!
Vonnie was born in Santa Monica the month before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Her father, a teacher at UCLA was soon sent into combat for WWII and Vonnie and her mother went to live with her grandmother in Laguna Beach. Upon Vonnie’s father return from the war, the family lived in a house be built in Palms, California. At age 10 Vonnie moved to Manhattan Beach where she attended Mira Costa High School. Like many young people, she started college but decided to travel to Europe, all by herself, at the age of 19.
After returning from her adventures in Europe, she finished her degree at Cal State Long Beach, where she met and married Warren in her senior year. The couple has been married for 56 years! They honeymooned in Europe and Vonnie began teaching first and second grade in Fountain Valley. Four children later (Mark, Susan, David and Amber), Vonnie decided to go back to school to follow her dream of becoming a registered nurse. She attended night school at Golden West College and finished her RN. With four elementary school children, she began to work part time as a nurse first in the ICU (for two years) and then on to the ER which had always been her goal.
In 1995 Vonnie heard that Jack Haley was getting local citizens to donate to a fund to build a substation next to the pier. It was to be staffed with volunteers. Vonnie was interested and applied for the program. Vonnie was still working as an ER nurse at St. Mary’s Hospital in Long Beach but decided to somehow fit this into her schedule. There were 32 interested citizens in the first VIP class.
Vonnie got to know several of the patrol officers very well, as the officers would use the substation to write their reports. She was struck by the family atmosphere of the SBPD and Seal Beach community.
Vonnie currently serves as a VIP supervisor and a member of the organization’s board of directors. Please join me and the rest of the SBPD in thanking Vonnie for her 25 years of service to the VIP program. She is truly an amazing woman!
Seal Beach, keep sending me your questions! Email askacop@sealbeachca.gov today!
