A visitation for Bob Hickey, 89, of Blanket, Texas will be held from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM Monday, August 17, 2015 at Heartland Funeral Home. Services will be held at First Baptist Church of Blanket on Tuesday, August 18, 2015 at 10:00 AM with Jim Looby officiating. Interment with military honors will be held 1:00 PM Thursday, August 20, 2015 at the DFW National Cemetery in Dallas, Texas.
Robert W. (Bob) Hickey, August 12, 2015. An old soldier died today. He has stood his last retreat on earth and will be standing reveille in the morning with Sgt. Alvin York, Lt. Audie Murphy and innumerable comrades who have gone on before.
Bob was born July 16, 1926 at home in the sand-hills and sagebrush of the Oklahoma Panhandle. He was the third of six children born to Joe and Ivey Enyart Hickey.
Bob lived most of his life in Meade County, Kansas, just a few miles north of his birthplace. He graduated from Meade High School in May 1944. Just like most of his male classmates, he was soon inducted into the army.
He served in the South Pacific with the 24th Division, 19th Regiment and was wounded in the hills above Davao Mindanao, June 12, 1945. He spent 10 months in Japan. After returning to the US, he worked at various jobs and attended Kansas State College briefly.
In March 1949, when the coal mines he worked in went on their third strike in four weeks, he quit and re-enlisted in the army. After a year of schooling in the US, he was sent to Okinawa where he joined the 931st Aviation Engineers Group as a photographer. Three months after arriving, the Korean War erupted.
After the work on Kadena Air Force Base was completed in early 1951, he was shipped to Suwon, South Korea to build Suwon Air Force Base.
In 1952 he returned to the US and was on assignment in Brownwood, Texas, where he met and married Jayne Fuller.
He received a B.S. in Secondary Education from Howard Payne College in 1956 and a M.A. from George Washington University (Wash. D.C.) in 1976. He worked for the U.S. Bureau of Mines, U.S. Fish and Wildlife services, and the ACTION Agency.
After retiring with 30 years’ service, he worked another 8 ½ years for the Texas Department of Human Services.
Bob had been involved in Blanket Baptist Church and the Gideons. Also, he has been involved in the American Legions, VFW and other service organizations.
According to our dad, “life is a journey from the cradle to the grave. It has high points and low. It is sometimes triumphant and sometimes depressing, but we are each our own master. Life without our Lord Jesus is a life that is Not worth living.”
Bob is survived by his daughters, Peggy Hickey of Blanket, TX; Julia (James) Jones of Ft Washington, MD; Michele (David) Yount of Pleasant Hill, MO; Kathleen Hickey of Fort Worth, TX; his son, William (Kelly) Hickey of Blanket, TX; his brother, Herbert (Dean) Hickey of Brownwood, TX; twelve grandchildren, several great grandchildren and numerous nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews.
Bob was preceded in death by his beloved wife Myra Jayne Hickey; his parents Joseph Edward Hickey and Ivey Marie Enyart Hickey; his daughter, Patricia Golden; his brothers Oscar and Ernest Hickey; his sisters, Jean (Teddy) Drake and Virgie Hickey, and his granddaughter Angela Hickey.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to Gideon’s International for Bibles. My Dad said, “I cannot see or smell the flowers and in a few days they will be gone. If a soul I saved by a Bible dedicated in my memory, I will know about that in Heaven and be able to welcome them there.” To give locally, use Box 922, Brownwood, TX 76801.
Online condolences may be left for the family at www.heartlandfuneralhome.net
Heartland Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.