Isiah Hickman

Isiah Hickman, age 72, of McLeansville, North Carolina, passed away on Sunday, August 22, 2021 after contracting the Delta variant of Covid-19. A graveside service will be held at 11:00 a.m., Friday, September 3, 2021 at Forest Lawn Cemetery, 3901 Forest Lawn Drive in Greensboro.Isiah (“Ike”, to his brothers and sisters) was born January 3, 1949 in Darlington County, South Carolina, son of the late Henry Hickman and Emma Lee Hickman (Johnson). His early rural upbringing instilled in Isiah a love of nature and the outdoors. Like so many people in the rural south of that time, his mother would remind her children of the sacredness of the natural world by demanding silence during thunderstorms, so that they could hear what she believed was the voice of God. Isiah’s rural upbringing also instilled an understanding of the hard work required to grow and harvest nature’s bounty, whether commercial products like cotton and tobacco, or homegrown tasty staples like tomatoes, beans, and okra (the latter of which, surprisingly, he liked to eat raw, picked right from the plant).

Whatever adventures and misadventures occurred throughout Isiah’s life (including an unsettling teenage flight to Montana that made him swear off flying forever after), he would always try to incorporate the natural world into his existence as much as he could. He often kept pets during his life, both cats and dogs. After leaving South Carolina as a very young man, and working some in Virginia, Isiah became a true North Carolinian and made his life in the Greensboro area. He loved to explore Guilford county’s many streams for ideal fishing spots; he loved sharing cuttings from favorite trees and plants in his yard with others, so that they could grow them in their own yards; and he was legendary at garden work, relishing being outdoors, whether he was wrestling a big tiller or relentlessly scaring the weeds out of a bed of flowers. And it was through gardening that he developed some really close, long-lasting friendships.

But it was also through his many years working for the Greensboro City Water Department that Isiah developed even longer-lasting close friendships. He and his colleague Moses Junior Gregory, good friends since the 1980’s until Isiah’s death, spent 10 years working on the same truck together fixing pipes and handling water emergencies all over the city. Another very important, life-long friendship started in Greensboro even earlier: Leonidas (“L.C.”) Smith met Isiah in the 1970’s when Isiah was a brash young man with a wide-brimmed hat (with a feather!) and a cigar, and the two worked for the same plumbing company before both moved to the City Water Department. In later years, L.C. always cared about and watched out for Isiah, including by helping him find supplemental work when he needed it. And it was L.C. who introduced him to Barbara Smith, a woman who had a kindred gardening spirit, and who, together with her son Brian, became close friends and benefactors to Isiah during the most recent two decades.

Isiah met the real love of his life, Crystal Craig, almost two decades ago, and the two quickly became inseparable, remaining that way until the very end of Isiah’s life. When Isiah developed health problems, Crystal was always his rock of support. As the problems became more serious in the last few years, when he was hit with an almost unending string of different health challenges, Crystal became absolutely his most essential, most caring, and most hands-on CNA, in actuality if not by official title. She was the one taking care of virtually all his needs inside the home. Isiah’s closest and most well-grounded relationship of his whole life was with Crystal.

There was also an officially-credentialed CNA in Isiah’s life since late 2018 — Chandra Graves. Chandra’s role, as his invaluable personal medical-care coordinator, was crucial to Isiah making it through the last several years. She took him to, and attended with him, almost every medical appointment he had (which were very numerous), whether in Greensboro, Hillsborough, Chapel Hill, High Point, or Durham. She conversed with great frequency with doctors and nurses on his behalf, made sure he had all the correct medicine for every day, and so much more. And she was a great friend to Isiah as well, not just his medical assistant.

Isiah could certainly be his own worst enemy at times in his life, but he ultimately survived and surmounted that, and gained wisdom through it. He was a combination of strong and gentle, with a certain unintentional but lovable bull-in-a-china-shop aspect to his personality. He practically wore out his knees with a many-years-long, over-the-top regimen of morning deep knee bends. Isiah’s handling of certain implements, like a vacuum cleaner or a chainsaw, was a source of consternation, amusement, and alarm amongst his friends. Delicate pottery and furniture legs were the victims of the vacuum cleaner, and, as for the chainsaw, well, suffice it to say that all observers breathed a huge sigh of relief when Isiah emerged from a sawing task in once piece. He’d swing that chainsaw around with such enthusiasm that it was a wonder he managed to keep all his toes and fingers.

Isiah was indeed a strong man, and that toughness was never more evident than in his resilience, mentally and physically, in the face of relentless health problems and very often pain, including so many hospitalizations and, more recently, long rehabs, in the last few years. And even before the long string of newer problems, Isiah couldn’t stand or walk without considerable pain starting as early as about 2016, due to an arthritic lower spine.

As for his gentleness, it was that part of him that created an easy bond between him and new friends, especially later in life. His calm presence and relaxed conversational style are things that many of those who got to know him will always remember fondly. His friend Carol Flacks named him “Papa Smurf”, due to his plumpness and his benign presence in her life (and it may have had something to do with how he looked in blue). Carol was also a caregiver for him for a while in the recent past. Carol and Isiah had been planning a fishing trip to a handicap-accessible fishing spot just before he became sick with Covid in early August.

Isiah’s many brothers and sisters couldn’t get together often after childhood, but, when they did, it was as if very little time had passed since their last meeting. As for his mother, Emma, Isiah kept a very strong connection with her throughout his life. One of his greatest joys was secretly driving down to Darlington County, South Carolina, where his mom continued to live, and delighting her with surprise visits. When driving long distances became too difficult in recent years, Chandra drove him and Crystal down there to visit his mother multiple times. He loved his mother dearly, calling often to ask if she needed anything. It was a very sad day when he leaned that the Covid pandemic made visiting her in the nursing home impossible. (She didn’t require a nursing home until her mid-90’s, and she moved to one in 2019.) It was that very pandemic that took the lives of both Isiah and his mother this year.

In addition to his parents, Isiah was preceded in death by sisters Emma Lou Nero, Christine Williams, Margaret Ann Hickman, and Jannie Ruth Smith; and by his brother Henry Hickman, Jr. He is survived by his loving partner Crystal Craig of McLeansville, NC; eldest daughter Catherine Blair of Darlington, SC; son Isiah Hickman, Jr (residence unknown at this time); and daughters Sharon and Tonya (residences unknown at this time); and by brothers Richard Nero of Richmond, VA; Leo Hickman of Hartsville, SC; Frank (Cynthia)Hickman of Hartsville, SC; James (Deanna) Hickman of Anderson, FL; and Willie (Alice) Hickman of Richmond, VA; and by grandson Christopher Blair of Darlington, SC; granddaughters Rashydia Blair and LaRhonda Blair, both of Raleigh, NC; and two great-grandbabies, also of Raleigh.

Isiah is also survived by his cat Midnight, who was a real comfort and joy to him in his final years.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Isiah’s memory may be made to the SPCA of Greensboro, 3163 Hines Chapel Road, Greensboro, NC 27405; or donate at the website: triadspca.org.