Tim M. Hickey

For me, do not stay at home and weep;

I am no longer here.

I no longer sleep.

I am the brisk winds that blow.

I am the river’s ebb and flow.

I am the plane flying loudly overhead.

I speak the whisper heard as you fall into bed.

When you awaken to the morning's rush,

I am the moment that gives pause for hush (to witness)

majestic birds in circled flight.

I am the stars that shine tonight.

Do not stay at home and cry;

I am no longer here

but I did not die.

Adaptation by Erin Hickey

BIOGRAPHY

Tim was born Timmy Michael Hickey in El Monte, California on June 19, 1943. He lived on a rural piece of property with groves of Walnut and Orange Trees, amongst others. The compound, owned by his grandparents, Nana (Naw-nuh) and Bomp contained two buildings. His grandparents lived in one and he and his parents and eight siblings lived in another (his father later provided him with four half-siblings). Needless to say, money was scarce. Tim always said, though, that the kids never knew they were poor. They had everything they could ever dream of right there at home including endless snacks plucked from the trees. Growing up in such an environment certainly contributed to the man he became: infinitely imaginative, very connected to nature, and incredibly caring for family and for others. Tim had a very close relationship with his Mexican “Nana” and Irish “Bomp”. He recounted some of his favorite childhood memories as coming home from school and helping his Nana make homemade tortillas that she would melt butter on and roll up as an afterschool snack. He also recalled skipping school at times with his brothers and best friend, Bobby, to go fishing and dreamed of flying with the birds and in the airplanes overhead. Thus, began his love of aviation and space exploration. When Tim was a young teenager, he, his best friend, and one of his brothers were given the opportunity to paint the exterior of Buzz’s Flight School in exchange for free flying lessons. For a couple of kids of meager means, this was a chance to soar. Tim achieved his private pilot’s license.

As a young man, Tim spent his summers in the mountains, pumping gas and bussing diner tables in Blue Jay and Big Bear. When he got older, he worked in the Aerospace Industry for several years, drafting and making printed circuit boards. He assisted in the design of the control panels for some of the Apollo Projects. He later worked at CSUN as an Architectural Draftsman and made connections that he held dear until the day he passed. While working in the State University system, he also began a landscaping business that was quite successful.

When Tim was just 19, he married and began a family. He had a son, Michael Sean and then a daughter, Carrie Ann. Life was difficult for the young couple of two and they divided when the kids were young. A number of years later, Tim met Gale Barnes. They married and had Erin Elizabeth and Darcy Shannon O’Shea. Tim was excited at the chance at a family again and was thrilled to have more children. Tim and Gale divorced in 1994.

Tim loved the wilderness, flying, fishing, hiking, playing guitar, theoretical physics, making art, space exploration, and many artists and expansive thinkers such as John Denver and Carl Sagan; but he loved people and his family most of all.