Today my mom would have celebrated her 100th birthday. She was born on February 27,1925 in Phoenix, Maricopa, Arizona to William James Hickey and Della May McGriff. She was the third of five children. An older brother William James Hickey, Jr. and sister Erma Lilian , and younger brother Micheal Edward, and sister Marjorie June. My mom said she had a good life growing up in small town Phoenix at that time. I have visited a number of the houses she grew up in. Her father was a fireman for the City of Phoenix and was able to provide well for their family even through the depression. Growing up they never owned a home but rented. She remembered that they would move into a house and her dad would work hard putting in a garden, grass and flowers, painting and fixing anything that was broken and when he was done shortly after the owner would say that they would have to move because a family member needed to have a house to live in. And the story would repeat itself for many years. In spite of that he would still move in and get busy making it a nice place to live. It was when he retired from the fire department that he bought their first home. When my mom was
about 9 years old her Aunt Grace came to her brother my mother's dad and asked if one of the kids could come and live with them. I don't know how the decision was made but my mother was sent to live with her Aunt Grace and Uncle Bill and their son Robert. On Sunday they would pick her up and she would stay for the week and then on Friday she would go back to her family. Mom said they really treated her well but she was always homesick and excited to go home. She lived with them for a year. She said that Aunt Grace wanted her to be Catholic and while living with them she attended a Catholic school and received her first communion while living there. Mom loved school and although my dad only went to school through 4th grade she attended school through high school. One of the things I remember about my mom was that she had beautiful handwriting.
My mom was always a champion for the underdog. She would often make extra sandwiches for her lunch so she could give them to friends who didn't have any lunch. Once at recess some girls in her class were standing together and were speaking Spanish. Another girl in the class told them she was going to tell the teacher. Apparently, they would be punished if they spoke Spanish instead of English. My mom overheard the girl threaten them. She marched over and told her that if she did tell the teacher she would have to deal with my mom later. She became a friend to those girls from then on. And the other girl never told the teacher.
Mom was an excellent cook. After we joined the church the missionaries loved to come over because they said she made the best enchiladas and tacos they had ever tasted. No matter what she cooked it was always good!
She met my dad on the grounds of the state capitol as he was with some friends from the CCC camp. They came downtown to see a movie. My mom and her friend were also going to a movie. As they passed each other he said hello to her and walked on. She told her friend, "I'm going to marry that guy." And a year later she did. They married on August 15, 1942 in her parents home. A year later a son was born and shortly after my dad was serving in the military. A number of times she took Billy and they lived at various military forts until he was finally sent overseas. Mom gave birth to two boys and two girls. William Franklin, David Edward, me, and Kitty Sue.
When I think about my mom I always think of the love she had for my children and her other grandchildren. I like to think that what I learned from her as I watched her teach one of the kids to skip down the sidewalk, or talk and play with them, and she would sing made up songs that they always loved. Her example helped me to learn how to be a better grandmother when my grandchildren were born. She was a saint in more ways than people who didn't know her could imagine. She loved Phoenix and after dad passed away she came to California to live with us but she always said "I want to live in Phoenix." In her late sixties she was diagnosed with dementia and lived in the memories of her past. My sister asked if she could come to Phoenix for a visit and so I took her to the airport and Kitty picked her up. While there she called and said she wanted to live in Phoenix. Kitty was working in a rest home (what they were called then) and she moved her in there. Shortly after, Kitty moved to New York. Mom actually loved it and I would go over and check on her each month. Eventually her memory issues became more severe and I found another place for her to live closer to where Amy and Christian lived in Mesa. It was for people with memory loss and was a secure facility so that the people there wouldn't wander off. I loved it when I visited her with Amy and Lincoln. She would always be so excited and she would tell everyone I was her sister Erma and Amy was her daughter Elaine, and Lincoln was little Billy. Mom passed away on June 4, 2009 in Mesa, Arizona after suffering a stroke. She was 84 years old. She and my dad are buried in the Veterans Cemetery in Cave Creek, Arizona.
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