Richard "Dick" Hickey

Dick Hickey was a man who always had a good story to tell. He’d seen so much in his lifetime, the good, the bad, the brave, the selfless. Dick had seen his share of coincidence, and felt his share of fate. Through it all, he kept his confidence, his character, his humility and humor, the traits that made him who he was. Dick was a loving husband, father and grandfather, a proud veteran and firefighter, too. Most of all, Dick was a good man with a good life, a life we were so lucky to have shared.

Dick’s story began on a bitterly cold, snowy winter day in 1924, in the Western New York city of Buffalo. Those were exciting times in this country, the heyday of the Roaring 20s, when Big Bands were king and Prohibition was the law of the land. On February 7, 1924, William and Clara (Dole) Hickey celebrated the birth of a baby boy, a son they named Richard William Hickey.

Dick’s parents divorced shortly after he was born, and being a single mother in the 1920s was a very difficult task, too difficult for Dick’s mother at the time. So she sent her son to live with his aunt and uncle, a kind, generous couple who took him in and raised him as their own. They also raised Dick’s cousins, Annie and Rita, who had some special health issues that needed extra attention. Dick was raised in a loving, nurturing home, one very nontraditional for the times, yes, but one he spoke so highly of and appreciated being a part of the rest of his life.

When Dick was a teenager, his aunt and uncle decided to move out west. With his birth mother now on better footing, Dick went to live with her, where he finished high school. Dick came of age during the dark days of World War II, and being the brave, selfless young man he was, he ran out and enlisted in the Navy after graduation in 1943.

It wasn’t long before Dick found himself about aboard a ship in the South Pacific, one of several tours of duty he took overseas. His time in the Navy wasn’t all bad, though. During one furlough, he started dating a woman named Frieda June Miller, who buoyed his spirits with her letters to him overseas the rest of the war. Like so many young sailors, Dick was preparing to invade Japan when the Enola Gay dropped the bomb on Japan probably saving his life.

When the war ended and Dick returned to Buffalo, he had lost track of Frieda June. He wasn’t meant to be alone forever, though, and soon met a wonderful woman named Sally. The two fell in love, were married, and before Dick knew it, he was the proud father of 10 wonderful children, Mike, Margaret, Paul, Mary, Kathleen, Brian, Ruth, Patrick, Rose, and Kevin.

Dick was a hardworking parent and an excellent provider. He proudly worked as a firefighter for the City of Buffalo for 30 years, and always kept a second job on the side to earn extra income for his family. That was the kind of man he was, though; a man of character, of duty, and of sacrifice. As hard as he worked, he always made time for his kids — and everyone else’s, too! Dick was the dad that volunteered to fix everyone’s bikes in the neighborhood, the dad who could fix anything.

After he retired, Dick and Sally moved away from Buffalo to another community, and he began to enjoy his free time. He loved to watch the news or the baseball game, and enjoyed Everybody Loves Raymond, too. Sometimes Dick was content to curl up with a good Western novel he checked out of the library, usually one by Louis L’Amour.

Sadly, Dick’s beloved Sally died in the mid-1990s, though Dick wasn’t meant to be alone forever. Fate had other plans for him, and for that pretty young girl he traded letters with back in the war.

Amazingly enough, a friend of his wife’s, Alice Bentley, also happened to know Frieda June, and also knew that June was also recently widowed. June was living in Otsego, Michigan, and one day out of the blue she got a card in the mail, from that handsome sailor she knew long ago. A phone call soon followed, and that young guy that she hadn’t see for 55 years, came to visit. He was still the same man she knew all those years before, still so polite and respectful (“Sunday, Monday, and Always, when we should meet again,” he always said). He still had puns and funny stories, and the same great Irish pride, too.

Before they knew it, the stars aligned and they were married, on Sunday, October 13, 1996. Dick moved to Michigan to be with his new bride, and the two couldn’t have been happier together. They loved to go dancing at the VFW Red Arrow Post, where Dick also enjoyed beating everyone at cards (he was pretty good from all those firehouse games). Dick also enjoyed not going to yard sales with June, happily serving as her official “driver”.

As the years progressed, his health began to decline, and sadly, Dick died on Monday November 5, 2007 at his home, at the age of 83.

Dick was a remarkable man, who lived a colorful life, a life of character, of charisma, of service and duty, and of love and family. He’d seen so much in life, the things he could explain, and the things he could only tell stories about. Through it all, Dick was a loving husband, father and grandfather, a great man with a good life, a life we were so lucky to have shared. He will be greatly missed.

Learn more about Dick, view his Life Story film and visit with his family on Friday from 6-8 p.m. at the Life Story Funeral Home, Betzler-Kalamazoo 6080 Stadium Dr. 375-2900. A service to honor his life will be held Saturday 11:00 AM at the funeral home. Burial of cremated remains will follow at Mt. Home Cemetery with full military honors. All are invited back to the funeral home for a time of food and fellowship in the Life Story Center after the interment. Dick was a Signalman First Class in the Navy during WWII and was a Buffalo, NY fire fighter for over 30 years. He was preceded in death by his first wife Sally. Surviving is his wife June Hickey of Mattawan, 10 children: Mike (Flo) Hickey of Oakland, CA, Margaret (Marshall) Severson of Anchorage, AK, Paul (Gretchen) Hickey of Dunkirk, NY, Mary Billingsley of Lockport, NY, Kathleen Hickey of Tucson, AZ, Brian Hickey of Buffalo, NY, Ruth Harkins of Gaithersburg, MD, Patrick Hickey of Eagle River, AK, Rose Weidner of Bath, NY, Kevin Hickey of Buffalo, NY, 6 step-children: Larry (Priscilla) Massie of Allegan, Donald Massie of Kalamazoo, William (Katerina) Massie of Hemet, CA, Robin Massie of Mattawan, Rick Massie of Phoenix, AZ, Eileen (Russ) Jarvis of Kalamazoo, and several grandchildren and great-grandchild. Please visit Dick’s personal web page at www.lifestorynet.com where you can share a memory or photo, sign his memory book online before coming to the funeral home, or may a memorial contribution to the Disabled American Veterans.