Leslie Dalke (Combs)

Gene was one of the good guys!! Always a smile on his face and friendly to everyone!! God bless you Gene I will miss you!!

Carolyn Andrews (Gavares)

I was one of the girls who burned my leg on Gene's scooter. Gene said, "Andrews, ...'what the HELL R U Doin'?" We were a "thing" for a while, and during that time I had the time of my life. Gene was always so much fun. Always smiling, always laughing, and always joking. He taught me so many things: Not to put my leg on the scooter muffler; How to shoot a pistol; Not to shoot a shotgun sitting on the railing of a pickup truck, because the gun kicks & throws you off the truck backwards to the ground; How to string barbed wire; How to drive a Jeep; That you can't shoot a rattle snake with a pistol because you could never hit it and it just makes the snake mad; If you put peanuts into an RC cola it makes it taste much better; It is possible to sit through five showings of "Cool Hand Luke" at the local Drive-In and have Gene point out something new every time. I think he had the whole movie memorized. Our trips to the ranch were always filled with laughter and fun. Once we took my little dog Yogi to the ranch. He was so muddy that we put him in the bed of the truck for the ride home. He saw a cow on the way home and flew out of the bed of the truck trying to catch it, bouncing twice on the pavement and then lay completely lifeless. Gene slammed on the brakes of the truck, jumped out and massaged his heart. Yogi came back to life, pretty scraped up and bleeding, Gene brought him to the cab and put him in my lap. I asked him if he would be the one to tell my Mother what happened. My mother loved Gene, and I knew the news of what happened to the dog would be better coming from him. So with his Texas drawl and Hickey swagger, Gene said, "Mizz (Mrs.) Andrews, there's been a little accident." By the time he was done she was smiling and saying Yogie will be okay. The minute he left, Mom turned and said, "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? It's a GOOD thing Gene was there!". I just smiled and said yes ma'am. Many times I've thought about Gene and wondered what fun, crazy things he was doing. I missed him a lot and hoped to get back to Texas to see him so he could say "Andrews, what the HELL R U Doin'?" I know heaven will never be the same with Gene Hickey there. "Eugene, what the HELL R U Doin'? God bless Gene, his family and his friends. My prayers are with you all. Carolyn Gavares

Roy Ison

Gene and I were good friends back in 7th grade at Garner. He was such a cool guy, and he had many friends. The thing I most remember about Gene was that despite his coolness, he was very approachable, kind and very considerate. I will always keep Gene close to my heart.

Jim Briscoe

Gene was one of the first friends I made when I showed up at Garner. Great guy and a great friend. Football was the initial catalyst for our friendship, but it quickly morphed into hunting, the ranch and blowing things up! Gene loved to make pipe bombs and blow stuff up. Stealing a road grader to grade the roads on the ranch, blowing a mature tree completely out of the ground with a Bobby Doyle bomb, spotlighting parkers in Marymont, the cave on Cave Lane; too many memories and too many stories, He was one of the nicest people I have ever known and he will be missed! RIP Gene Hickey!

Penny Harford (O'Keefe)

Fond memories of Gene from Northwood Elementery.   He would tell jokes and make everyone laugh in 6th grade.  Mrs. Davis was NOT amused!

Kathy Killebrew (Poehl)

Oh, Gene! How the world will miss you. We all have fond memories of you in our classes. I met you at Northwood Elementary in the 4th Grade and I felt we were friends all the way through High School. To this day whenever we drive down Vandiver I point out to Michael ~~ "That is where Gene Hickey lived" when we reach Country Lane. 
You were always friendly and fun to be around. May our Father in Heaven wrap His comforting arms around your wife, children, grandchildren and all of your family.

Tom Bennett

     Gene was a great guy with a big heart.  My first experiences with ranching were on his family ranch “cutting” the young bulls and moving lovesick stallions around.  And occasionally enjoying some phenomenal dove hunting over the ponds on the property.  I vaguely remember his motorcycle, but that red Ford truck with the double fuel tanks and a huge V8, well, that was legendary!

     He actually helped me prank my good friend, Greg Dehoney.  It all started when Gene gave me a deer he’d shot.  Wow, what a treasure!  But where to process it?  The bathtub seemed like a good place, lots of room and clean!  But I had no idea how messy it would get.  And in the middle of it all, my buddy Greg stops by.

     After cleaning myself up quickly and closing the door to the bathroom (Dad might freak out if he saw the carnage), I joined Greg in the kitchen to chat over fresh coffee.  After about twenty minutes or so, Greg excused himself to use the restroom.  My whole family came running when they heard the screams! By the time I got to him, Greg was white as a sheet and telling my Dad that there was a body in the bathtub!

Thanks for the great memories, Gene!  May your memory be eternal!

Steve Hart

Gene Hickey, what a legend, don't know where to start.  Talk about your all-around good guy and example of "I'll do it my way".  My girlfriend lived in his area, with a curfew, and on my way home I could usually depend on his garage door being open and an offer of a beer.   If after all those offerings, I wish I could remember even parts of our conservations and plans.  We both went to SWT and Gene had an apartment off-campus which made his place a gathering hole.  Gene had a saddle in the middle of the floor right in front of the TV.  His favorite show was "Dan August" with Burt Reynolds.  After a few beers, riding the saddle and an hour of enthusiastic Burt Reynolds getting the bad guy, Gene had a habit of firing a couple of rounds out the front door.  He would immediately slam the door, reopen it seconds later, and then demand to know "where's that gunfire coming from?".  Too many years have gone by without seeing him, sad to say.  He had a lifestyle that a lot of us envied.  RIP buddy...

Nancy Fletcher (Hopper)

I did enjoy the wonderful comments and stories ya'll mentioned in honoring Gene.  Seeing him at the reunions he was just charming & always asking "so how ya doin' "  at our last reunion we ended up at Gary's home and sat in the backyard..enjoying drinks and telling stories. He will be missed and God has a character in His line of good hearted people & fun to boot.  God Bless everyone and we'll see you soon Gene Hickey.  

Brenda Burton

I knew Gene in passing! I remember him speeding down Quail Run and stopping at Julie's house. Smiled and waved as he quickly drove by! I knew him from Trinity Baptist Church, although I didn't see him there much. His father was a Deacon and always sat in the Lobby during service. I visited with his dad and I can see where he got his personality! Saw his brothers there, more than I saw him! May the Good Lord have you in His arms and we'll meet again up there! Condolences to his family!