Jerry Wayne Hickman passed at the age of 70, at his home December 17, 2019. He was surrounded by his sons Shane and Cody Hickman, our Aunt Deby and Uncle Bobby, our cousin Andy Kinkel and nine Ft. Worth Firefighters paramedics and one police officer. We are very thankful for their efforts to revive him. The memorial service is on December 26, 2019 and will be held at Shannon Rose Hill Funeral Chapel 7301 E. Lancaster Ave. Ft. Worth, TX 76112. The viewing will be from 11:00am-1:00pm. The funeral will be held the same day at Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery with full military honors at 2:00pm. 2000 Mountain Creek Pkwy Dallas, TX 75211. It is about a 30 minute drive from the funeral home.
Jerry was a Texan through and through and is considered to be from Fort Worth, TX where he was raised, but a closely held secret that we can now reveal is that he is technically a Yankee. He was born in Rhode Island November 19, 1949 when his father was stationed there during his stint in the Navy. Even during most of his own career in the military no one knew. Of course when the cat was out of the bag he was teased quite a lot by family and friends.
Jerry grew up in Ft. Worth and graduated from Poly Tech High School and was drafted shortly after to serve in the Vietnam War with the United States Army as a helicopter mechanic where he served two tours from 1968-1972. At the end of his service with the Army he went back to civilian life, but that did not suit him for long.
Jerry reenlisted with the United States Navy where he served from 1974-1993 as an F-14 System Aircraft Organizational Maintenance Technician. In Layman’s terms he was responsible for maintaining the Navy’s elite F-14 fighter planes insuring they were safe for our pilots. He served on multiple aircraft carriers such as the USS Enterprise and USS Independence in very precarious environments including the Persian Gulf War. I remember one tale he mentioned being on a carrier in the middle of the Pacific in an enormous swell and all he could see was a wall of water on each side of this giant ship letting him know how small we all are. He sailed to many ports throughout the world and visited places such as Japan, Australia, Hawaii, Hong Kong, the Middle East and many others. In total he served 23 years. After retiring as a Chief Petty Officer he worked for Sikorsky in Corpus Christi, TX essentially performing the same job (with better pay) he had in the Navy supervising others and putting them in their place when necessary. That is probably putting it mildly. Those who worked with him know better and can tell you some pretty good stories. Just ask at the funeral! You’ll be quite amused. He did speak highly of several and one young man he thought a lot of and took him under his wing.
He could be an ornery, cantankerous, crusty (sailor), old fart, but he was a loving father, brother, uncle, and friend. He had a generous heart, and was a huge patriot and sports fanatic. Dad was also quite the smart-ass, had a great sense of humor (often colorful) and was fiercely independent and stubborn. As my colleagues, family and friends have told me the apple does not fall far from the tree. I have to agree at times because we are both regimented and expect people to use common sense and to simply do their jobs and do them well. It’s really a simple philosophy. My father, my brother Cody and I hold high expectations of ourselves and we expect the same from everyone else. That’s just how we were built.
That being said he expected the Dallas Cowboys to do their job as well. Dad was a HUGE Cowboys and Texas Longhorns fan. I could write an entire essay on his love for sports. He even had a brick inscribed with me, Cody, himself and his father’s nicknames placed at the new Dallas Cowboy’s stadium. Dad also had a stuffed bear sitting in a chair that traveled with him all over the world. This thing (dressed in uniform, no joke) watched every Cowboys and Longhorn game he did. That darn bear has seen more of the world than our entire family combined.
Dad was also a huge golf player and fan. I am certain he is in Heaven enjoying a game with Jesus. As he got older he could not play a full 18 holes, but he would play at least 9. When we were kids he introduced us to golf via Putt-Putt Golf and games and beat us every time except maybe once. He and Cody played a lot of golf together which I missed out on unfortunately except for one 9 hole game we all played together. I enjoyed that tremendously.
Dad was extremely competitive! He never gave us a break! I appreciated it though because it made me fight harder to win. One of my best moments came when I beat him at chess when I was 14. He was an excellent chess player! I’m sure my youngest son was exhilarated too when he finally bested me. I held the same philosophy with my kids. There are no trophies for second place. As a result, my children work their tails off at whatever they do.
When we were growing up and Dad was on leave from the Navy he would play football with all of us kids, cousins, brothers, friends, etc. We played hard too no matter the weather! Those days are sorely missed, especially, during the holidays when we played the most.
Aside from being a sports fanatic he was a pretty good mechanic as well and we enjoyed working on cars together. He had more tools than a car has nuts and bolts. One time when I was young I was helping him work on his old Ford Ranchero. He had rebuilt the engine and souped it up a little. Anyhow, he was under the hood resetting the timing and I was in charge of bumping the key over when asked. I accidentally set off the horn (he had air horns) and blasted his ears. He just peaked around the hood like Cool Hand Luke and says “That wasn’t necessary.” I apologized immediately, but inside I was laughing my butt off. Who has air horns?! Dad did. If you got in his lane he wanted you to know about it. Dad did not put up with anyone’s nonsense.
Even recently before he turned 70 he was at a restaurant with his nephew Andy. He had a rude encounter with some man and Dad bowed up barking at this man ready to fight. Andy of course probably prevented my father from getting his ass kicked jumping in his face yelling “Uncle Jerry, you’re 60 something years old you can’t be fighting etc” and talked him down. Maybe he was just hangry and his blood sugar was low. Dad’s antics will be missed for sure.
His other hobby was crossword puzzles and Sudoku. His favorite was the US Today crossword puzzle. When he was younger he also built models of military planes as did I, but he was much more detailed than I was and built this entire scene with an airstrip, grass, trees, etc when I was a teenager. It was awesome. Thanks to him I probably know almost every military aircraft new and old.
In closing, I find it very sad he has passed during the holidays. We just celebrated his birthday at my house last month. I felt we had more time with him despite his health. He had a triple bypass at 54 and eventually became diabetic as well. He tried to take care of himself as best he could and continued playing golf even the weekend before he passed. As he said many times though, “It is what it is.” That statement kind of follows a story he often told and mentioned it again at my house this fall noticing all the leaves in my yard. He said to his father one time “Dad, you need to rake your leaves.” His father responded “I don’t F@&* with Mother Nature.” He was colorful as well. To that end me, Cody, and my Dad raked up numerous bags of leaves. It is what it is.
Jerry Hickman is survived by his sons Shane and Cody Hickman, his sisters Linda Senisch her husband Stephen, Deby Kinkel, nephews Andy and Paul Kinkel, Steven, Greg, James, Stephen, nieces Kathy, and Sacha Senisch, his grandchildren Chase, Tyler, and Cassidy Hickman, his best friends Joe and Bruce, and Lisa a co-worker from Sikorsky, and numerous other friends and relatives.
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