Charlotte Hickman, 96, of Kimball, died on Monday, January 20, 2025. Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, January 23, 2025, at the Trinity United Methodist Church with Pastor Lorri Kentner officiating. Visitation will be held at the church one hour prior to the funeral on Thursday. Burial will be held in the Kimball Cemetery. Friends may visit www.cantrellfh.com to share condolences and stories for the family. Contributions in Charlotte’s memory may be given to the family for a donation of their choice. A complete obituary will be in next week’s paper. The services have been entrusted to the Cantrell Funeral Home.
Charlotte Irene Hickman was born on October 14, 1928, to Henry and Nola (Taylor) Schmidt in Kimball, NE. At her birth her family lived in the southwest corner of Kimball County. She attended a country school (District 35) until her parents bought a farm just south of Bushnell, NE when she was an eighth grader. Her Father would walk her to school since they had to cross Lodgepole Creek, Highway 30 and the Railroad Tracks, plus the school was located on the north end of town. Charlotte and her brother and sister were baptized at the Grover Lutheran Church by the Pastor of the Bushnell Evangelical United Brethren Church. Her and her siblings enjoyed accompanying each other in music. She graduated from the Bushnell High School in May of 1946 and went to the Northern Colorado Teachers College in Greeley, Colorado. She received her Teachers Certificate and taught at a country school.
She was dating Donald Hickman who proposed to her in October of 1946. They were married June 1, 1947, in the Bushnell EUB Church. They lived on a farm north of Bushnell where they were blessed with twin boys (Keith and Kenneth) on May 3, 1948. They spent the Blizzard of ‘49 at her parents’ farm. They moved into town in late 1949/early 1950. They moved into the house where they lived for many years after, just before David was born in June of 1951. In August of 1953, Dennis was born. In October of 1955, Patricia was born. In March of 1960, Janice was born. When the twins were Seniors, and Janice started Kindergarten, was the only year that all the kids were in school at the same time. Both Charlotte and Donald plus all six kids graduated from the Bushnell High School.
Charlotte was very active in the Church and worked at numerous jobs until she moved to the Vista Villa in Kimball in Sept 2006. On August 1, 2018, she fell coming out of a beauty salon and broke her neck. After her hospital stay, she moved into the Kimball County Manor for rehabilitation and where she decided to stay until her passing.
She is survived by her sons, Kenneth and David of Kimball, NE; Dennis (Edna) of Pine Bluffs, WY; daughters Patricia (Delvin) Tobler of Kimball, NE and Janice Brown of Bushnell, NE.; daughter-in-law Betty Hickman of Pine Bluffs, WY and her brother Duane (Clarice) Schmidt of Lincoln, NE. 18 Grandchildren, 29 Great-Grandchildren and 13 Great-Great-Grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, son (Keith), grandson (Jeff Hickman), daughters-in-law Jodeen and Renate, son-in-law Ombra Brown and sister and brother-in-law Shirley (Kenneth) Taylor.
