Thomas L. Hickerson, 72
Thomas L. Hickerson, 72, passed away at home in NE Coeur d'Alene, Sunday evening, Nov. 14, 2010, of a primary brain tumor. He was born in Brainerd Minn., Jan. 31, 1938, of parents Lester and Kathleen (Bliss) Hickerson. He had one sibling, sister Joan Tomlinson, who passed away in April of this year in Florida.
Tom grew up in the lakes region of Brainerd, Minn. He attended Catholic and public schools there, followed by four years of military duty in the U.S. Air Force, 1958-1962. He served in the Far East and Portland, Ore., as an air traffic controller and then returned to his hometown of Brainerd.
In 1967 he married Dianne (Klisch) Hickerson in St. Cloud, Minn., while working in his family-owned business, Hickerson & Sons, a men's outerwear manufacturing company. He and Dianne moved to Coeur d'Alene in 1968 where he enrolled in the new forestry technician program at North Idaho Junior College. His first job with the USFS was in timber management on the Mt. Hood National Forest for 10 years while residing in Estacada, Ore., where sons Keith and Bruce were born. In 1980, Tom received a USFS transfer to the Idaho Panhandle National Forest where he worked in timber management as a timber sale administrator, followed by retirement in 1995.
During the 1980s-90s, he and his family lived in Dalton Gardens, followed by a retirement move to NE Coeur d'Alene, his and Dianne's present home. He and Dianne have been singing in the St. Thomas 10:00 Sunday choir for many years and have served together in their neighborhood homeowners' association. Tom enjoyed singing with the Lake City Harmonizers for some years. He loved music and had accrued a library of music with the big band era being his favorite. He and Dianne enjoyed working together on many creative projects: building a home, developing a backyard creek/ponds hydrology system and a spring-fed water system, thinning raw forestry acres, and landscaping their present city lot. Tom was an engineer-at-heart.
Tom is survived by his wife, Dianne of Coeur d'Alene; son Keith with wife Ashley and their baby daughter Grace in Boise; local son Bruce with wife Kelley and their children Kayla and Ryan; sister-in-law Bonnie Parden with husband Dr. Patrick Parden of Hayden Lake and cousins, nieces/nephews residing out-of-state.
Memorials may be directed to Hospice of North Idaho or St. Vincent de Paul homeless shelters of Coeur d'Alene.
Private services are being held. Yates Funeral Homes, Coeur d'Alene Chapel, is in charge of the final arrangements. Please visit Tom's memorial and sign his online guest book at www.yatesfuneralhomes.com.