Raymond Willard Hickey's Obituary
Raymond Willard Hickey
02/20/1925 – 04/17/2014
Raymond Willard Hickey died peacefully at home with his daughters by his side on April 17, 2014, from pulmonary disease. He was 89 years old.
Raymond Willard Hickey was born on February 20, 1925, the first son born to Ray and Dorothy (Schrieber) Hickey. He graduated from Chamberlain High School and served in the Army, 45th Division Infantry. He came home to care for his mother and younger siblings when his father died.
On a Saturday night in Kimball he met his bride, the late Berneta Margaret (Hauger) Hickey. They were married on May 7, 1955 and were together for fifty-five years. They resided in Chamberlain, South Dakota and their first three children were born. In 1960 they then moved to Rapid City, where the family increased by two more before moving to Sturgis where their last son was born.
Ray had many passions in life; carpentry, ranching, animals, hard work, gardening, his children, and music. He loved his Sturgis ranch where he raised cattle at the same time he cared for his children. One of his favorite stories (and he had many) was about his horse, Brownie. Upon leaving Sturgis, they traveled west, spending time in Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon and California.
In California, Ray worked in construction as a union laborer. He was very proud to have worked on the San Francisco Bart Tunnel project and was instrumental in solving many of the obstacles faced during the project.
In 1972, tired of the city life he packed up his van and “green” wagon and moved his family to a small farm in Days Creek, Oregon. Back in his element, he raised chickens, cows and pigs on the property and taught his children about farm living. He continued to work in construction outside the home until age 50 and then retired. In his spare time he cut and sold firewood, eggs and milk.
In 1984, all his children grown, he and Bernie sold the farm and moved to Monroe, Washington to be close to his sister LouMae. Again Ray was able to use his skills to build onto the house and tend his garden when he wasn’t playing with his grandchildren. But Ray missed not spending more time with his many grandchildren and when his youngest daughter had a set of twin girls he couldn’t stand it any longer and had to move closer to lend his masterful hand of helping to raise these girls. With this move Ray and Bernie landed in Columbia City, Oregon where they bought a beautiful home close to the Columbia River. Ray loved watching the big barges pass.
In June of 2010, he lost the love of his life to cardiac failure. This loss was a lot to cope with, but Ray endured with the help of his family and friends. In the coming year he moved to the Woodland Care Center to be closer to his daughters.
Ray loved music, had the best sense of humor, loved good jokes, and was generally happy. He loved to share his wealth of knowledge by telling stories. Ray believed in doing it right the first time and certainly lived his life this way. Hours before Ray passed he was still waking to say good bye, talking and smiling with his family. We all love you daddy and will carry you with us in our memories, in our hearts and will remember all you have taught us and pass your love on to our families.
He is survived by his children: his sons Gregory Hickey and his wife Kate, and Leslie “Pete” Hickey, all of Days Creek, OR. Daughters, Karla Carnes and her husband Carl of Eugene, OR; Kathleen Kirby and her husband Earl, Janelle Bodenner and her husband Ross, and Leanna Lawyer, all of Woodland, WA. His 14 grandchildren, Amy, Aaron, Chelsea, Ian, Jessica, Trenton, Trevor, Jason, Jeremy, Kara, Teah, Rhiannon, Marlene, and Raymond. His 12 great-grandchildren, Taylor, Katelyn, Mary, Riley, Charlie, Tristen, Riley, Dakota, Allie, Landon, Cameron and Kiley. Sisters; LouMay Novak of Sanborn IA, JoAnn Scoenfelder and Robert of Hartford, SD, and sisters-in-law Janis Hickey and Shirley Hickey of Chamberlain, SD. Preceding him in death were his parents, his wife, Berneta, his brothers, Cliff, Eugene, Guy, sisters Alice, June and Carol.
A Celebration of Life will be held at 11:00 AM Saturday, April 26, 2014 at Columbia Funeral Home in St. Helens, Oregon. A reception will be held immediately following at the Woodland Assisted Living.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be sent to Disabled American Veterans.
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