Ruth Hickman

Ruth Hickman was born in 1931 to George and Annie Bacon in Pye Hill, a hamlet in the Erewash Valley outside the mining village of Jacksdale on the Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire border in England. She had two beloved siblings who both preceded her in death: an older sister Jean and a younger brother Roy. Her musical talent developed early and she took piano lessons as a child. She played all her life, performing as a church pianist. Her music brought joy to her fellow residents at her retirement community; she was even playing for them a few days before she died. Ruth was a devout Christian who came to believe that compassion was more important than dogma.

Ruth qualified in England as a Special Education Nurse working with pre and primary school age students. She did this work for most of her career in several countries. She and her husband John emigrated to Sydney Australia in 1968 where she again worked as a Nursery Nurse until returning to England in 1975.

After some time back in England, Ruth and her family moved to the US where she continued her work with children. She bought a property and opened a pre-school in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She sold the business in the early 1980s and returned to England with her husband John to look after her aging father. After her father’s death, Ruth and her husband returned to the US for their retirement years. She was the primary caregiver for her husband until shortly before his death from Alzheimer’s.

In her lifetime Ruth travelled extensively. She visited France, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, Norway, Denmark & Canada. She loved collecting little mementos along the way.

Ruth made friends wherever she went and kept in touch with so many of them. She was close with some wonderful new friends, whom she had met just a few months before her passing.

She is survived by her beloved family, her daughter Judith and son-in-law Michael, her granddaughter Caitlin and Caitlin’s husband Evan, her grandson Sean and her two great-granddaughters Daphne and Halcyon.

She will be greatly missed. Rest in Peace.