Josephine "Johe" Hickman

Des Moines

Johe passed away on November 5, 2012 at Trinity Center in Des Moines. Funeral services will be at 11:30 a.m. Thursday at McLaren’s Chapel with burial at Resthaven Cemetery. Visitation will begin one hour prior to the service.

Johe was born October 16, 1915 in Des Moines to Leonard and Francesca Scalise. After graduation from high school she went to work in the office of a printing company for two years. After that, she worked at Look Magazine in the change of address and new subscription department. While she was there she met Dortha Hickman-Johns who introduced Johe to her brother, Joe Hickman. Dortha set them up on a blind date and the rest is history. They married June 29, 1940 at St. Anthony’s Church in Des Moines. The moved to Boone after they were married and then back to Des Moines in 1943 and have been there ever since. Johe went to work for an insurance company in 1960, and then worked as a teacher associate in the Des Moines School System, retiring in 1977 after many years of service.

She loved to cook, entertain, play cards, and spend time with her grandchildren. Johe and her late husband, Joe, loved to travel and in a moment’s notice could be packed and on the road. It was nothing for one of the kids to get a call saying that they were headed out of town (destination unknown) and would need one of them to bring in the mail, check on the cat, and they would check in while they were on the road and would call when they had returned. Johe was an avid reader until her eyesight deteriorated, at least one book a week and sometimes two. She will be greatly missed.

Johe is survived by her son, Richard (Linda) Hickman; daughters, Celia (Bob Noble) and Mary Beth (Joe) Kodis; six grandchildren, Anita Noble, Tim Noble, Jennifer (Rod) Hart, Elizabeth (Bryan) Krumveide, Rebecca (Cory) Cox, and Barbara (Timothy) Gray; 18 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband of 62 years, Joseph; five sisters, Mary, Margaret, Dorothy, Teresa, and Helen; and one brother, Tony.

The family wants to give a special thank you to the staff at Trinity for all the wonderful care that was given throughout the years. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the Alzheimer’s Association the Greater Iowa Chapter.