Barbara Quick Hickman
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Barbara Quick Hickman, age 78, entered into eternal rest on Friday, December 18, 2009 at Trinity Hospital of Augusta.
Funeral Services will be held at Platt’s Funeral Home Chapel, Belair Road, on Wednesday, December 23, 2009 at 2:00 PM with the Rev. James F. Bland Jr., the Rev. Charlie K. DeLoach, and the Rev. Lloyd C. Greene officiating. Burial will follow at Westover Memorial Park.
Mrs. Hickman is survived by three children, a son, William Randall Hickman and wife J. Susan Williams-Hickman of Thomson, Georgia; a daughter, Valerie Hickman Merrill of Birmingham, Alabama; a daughter, Pamela Hickman Stroud and husband Phillip C. Stroud of Martinez, Georgia; granddaughter, Eleanor Merrill Smith and husband James C. Smith of Birmingham, Alabama; granddaughter, Elizabeth Anne Hickman of Augusta, Georgia; grandson, Matthew Phillip Stroud and granddaughter Caroline Elizabeth Stroud both of Martinez; a great granddaughter, Anne Milbray Beverley Smith of Birmingham, Alabama; a sister-in-law, Carolyn H. Strange of Loganville, Georgia; and numerous nieces and nephews. Mrs. Hickman was preceded in death by her beloved husband of fifty-seven years, W. Ralph Hickman, her parents, W. Fulton and Effie May Bell Quick, her sisters, Louise Quick Martin, Rosa Lee Cullen Byars, Inez Quick Metts, Pauline Quick Oliver, and a grandson, Jonathan Phillip Stroud.
Mrs. Hickman’s professional career included tenure as a special assistant in the executive offices of the Georgia Department of Transportation. Later, she served for many years as a civilian in the accounting and payroll departments of the United States Army Signal School at Fort Gordon, Georgia, from which she retired. She found great joy in her lifelong membership at Bayvale Baptist Church, and considered her ministry and fellowship there as well as her volunteer work as a member of The Pink Ladies Auxiliary of St. Joseph’s Hospital and at various assisted living facilities in Augusta to be extraordinary blessings in her life.
Born in Waynesboro, Georgia at the beginning of the Great Depression, Mrs. Hickman was lovingly raised by her shipbuilder father and her four older sisters, her mother having died as a result of childbirth. From her earliest years, she developed an infectious and vivacious laugh and sense of humor which perfectly suited her sparkling red hair and green eyes. Her career and marriage brought her from life in a small country town to the city of Augusta and to a life filled with all of the simple pleasures of raising and nurturing a family. A woman who treasured her family and friendships deeply, she delighted in being a homemaker and was a superb cook, especially renowned for her savory cornbread Thanksgiving dressing and the richest Christmas fudge in Augusta. No flower was a stranger to her for very long, and thrived under the magic of her greenest of green thumbs. She considered her greatest calling on earth to be that of a parent entrusted with the holy task of cooperating with God in shaping the destinies of her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. This she knew to be her most important legacy – and she did not try to do it alone. Mrs. Hickman went to the One whose birth is celebrated in this season – the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. One can imagine she rejoices that all is now well, indeed for all eternity.
Pallbearers will be Michael C. Dorn, Stevie L. Green, Glenn C. Metts, James C. Smith, Matthew P. Stroud, and James M. Williams Jr.
Memorial gifts may be made to the Columbia County Humane Society, 6100 Columbia Road Grovetown, Georgia 30813 or Romanian Christian Enterprises, 21058 Unison Road Middleburg, Virginia 20117.
Visitation will be held Tuesday, December 22, 2009 from 4:00 to 7:00 PM at Platt’s Funeral Home 337 North Belair Road.