Harry Hickman

It is with heavy heart that I notify family and friends of the sudden and unexpected loss of my husband, Harry, on November 23, 2013, at home in his beloved Canal Winchester. Harry Brown Hickman was born in Columbus, Ohio on February 22, 1950, to the late Pauline (Brown) and Lowell Hickman. Harry’s Dad moved the family from Columbus to Canal Winchester in 1955, and settled in the little ranch home on Kramer St, next door to the Steube’s. Harry told me many stories of the early days, meeting his first buddy Mark, who lived across the street, taking all day bike rides in the country all the way to Rock Mill, and sliding down the waterfall. He told me about his paper route and would detail the history of so many of the families who lived, and some still do, in the homes we would pass when we took our Summer walks. He told me about his friends in Boy Scouts, the times he spent at the Canal Bowling Alley, about the neighborhood getting together to work on Labor Day floats and the parades that followed. Harry attended Canal Winchester Schools and was a member of the 12 year club. I feel his favorite school days were those spent at Canal Winchester High. He served 2 years as class Secretary, was a photographer for the newspaper and Pepenaus Yearbook, and a member of Future Teachers. He described the fun he had with teammates being a Canal Winchester Indian, where he ran track, played and lettered in both football and basketball, and was a proud member of the 1967 District Championship Basketball Team. After graduation in 1968, Harry attended Columbus State and The Ohio State University. He decided to move West in the late 70’s and settled in Colorado and attended The Colorado School of Mines. Harry spent 18 years in Colorado, where he developed a passion for the mountains, the people and skiing. Harry became a member of the National Ski Patrol, and skied professionally at Ski Cooper in Leadville, Colorado, and later at Mad River Mountain in Ohio. While in Leadville, he worked for the AMAX Corporation at their Climax Mine. He served as an EMT on the mines Emergency Rescue Team, and was Vice President of the Union Local, where he served as a mediator. He became the owner of The Pizzeria, in Leadville, where he claimed to make “The World’s Highest Pizza”, as Leadville sits at 10,200 feet above sea level, at least he told me that’s how The Pizzeria slogan came about. Harry lived an exciting, interesting and passionate life. He took advantage of all the West had to offer. He hiked the mountains, climbing Mt. Elbert to the summitt, swam in Lake Powell, fished in Turquoise Lake, and took in all the beauty nature had to offer in the Rocky Mountains where he lived and loved. I am sure he was a mountain man in a previous life. I was so lucky to have shared the past 14 years with him and the last 12 as his wife. There was never a dull moment! He had a love for so many things. His knowledge of Classic Rock and his feel for the music was powerful. He felt there was no need to have sound on the TV during a football game, he could make the calls better than the officials, anyway. Instead he would mute the TV, don head phones and play rock music through the entire game. He enjoyed watching sports, especially Buckeye football and basketball and he had an undying loyalty to the Browns. He loved classic cars, too, and we spent many fantastic days on trips near and far in his ’89 Corvette, with friends we met in the Capital City Corvette Club. I must mention his love of animals, especially his favorite cat, Brutus, and dedicated loyalty to feeding the birds and squirrels in the back yard. Harry was a loving and loyal husband and father, and is greatly missed by those he leaves behind. Wife, Bonnie (Guyette, Sheehan) his daughter Alexis, her husband Buddy Dibbert, and his grandchildren Jason and Siena. Sister, Linda and husband Don Schendel, children, Jennifer and Jeff, and their families. He leaves his Brother in Law, Brian Guyette, wife Tracy, and children Haley and Christopher, Stepson, Robert Sheehan and granddaughter Allison, along with loving cousins, David Kennedy, Ann and David Palmatier, and many, many friends. Memorial donations may be made to Friends for Life Animal Haven, PO Box 7, Canal Winchester, Oh. 43110. A private “Celebration of Life” is being planned for Harry in February.