Joseph Hickert

Norman “Joe” Hickert II Norman “Joe” Hickert II died September 27, 2016. He was preceded in death by his parents: Norman and Bessie Hickert, 1 brother: David Lee, and 1 sister: Julie Ann Hickert Schindler. Joe is survived by his 3 sons: Robert of Kansas City, Ks, Aaron (Kaycie) and Daniel (Kassidy) of Loveland, Colo. and 6 Grandchildren: Hilary, Haley, Olivia Grace, Ginny, Tristan, Mason, and 1 brother, William (Kathy) of Russell, Ks. Joe believes he was truly blessed with this life. He was born Feb. 4, 1950 in Pittsburg, Ks. This accomplished 2 things. It made him the oldest grandchild of Henry and Theresa Hickert of New Almelo, Ks (sorry Kathie, but I am the oldest), and it also made figuring his age fairly easy. Even with “fuzzy - math”, he figured he’d be 50 years old at the turn of the century. The family moved to NW Kansas when he was 2-3 years old, living in Hoxie, Ks for a short time until settling in Graham County, Ks. He attended elementary school in Morland, Ks where the teachers ignited a life-long love for learning, and he developed a pair of strong legs from delivering a daily newspaper house to house and walking uphill, both directions, to and from school. The family moved to Hill City, Ks during the summer break between 6th and 7th grade. He finished middle school in Hill City then attended Brunnerdale Seminary in Canton, Ohio until the semester break of his junior year, graduating from Hill City High School in 1968. He enlisted in the U.S.A.F. in Jan. 1969 where he learned to be a flight line mechanic for the weapons control system on the F4-D. He did 2 tours in Thailand during the Vietnam War and was honorably discharged Jan. 1973. He graduated from Northwest KS VoTech, in Goodland in 1975 where he studied electronics, was elected student body president, and met his future wife. He married Laurie Sue Fulton August 7, 1975 and to that union was born Robert Gene, Aaron Joseph, and Daniel Edward. Joe loved being a Dad. Laurie and Joe were divorced August 1999. He never remarried. Career wise, Hickert was very blessed. He made concrete block for 17 years, mostly with his brother Bill. They made a helluva team. Bill could sell a freezer to an Eskimo and Joe (and Bill) were severely OCD. So they made a good product and sold it. In the fall of 1989, Joe (and Laurie) took an EMT class, passing the State tests in the spring of 1990. He volunteered with Russell County until September 1992 when he began his EMS career at Ellis County EMS. He advanced through EMT-I and D and became a Paramedic in 1994. He began flying with EagleMed part-time in 1997, and worded in the ER at Hays Medical Center and full time at ECEMS until 1999 when he began flying full time. Following the divorce, Joe moved to Denver, working briefly with Denver Health Paramedic Division until landing at PrideMark Paramedics whose mission more closely aligned with his style of prehospital medicine. He met the best EMT he ever worked with, Frank O’Brien, who remained a life-long friend and another true friend, Thom Dick. In 2002 EagleMed opened a base in Goodland, Ks and Joe worked there until Dec 2011. He really loved, and was good at, airbourne critical care medicine. Joe enrolled in and completed the Paramedic to RN bridge program through Hutchinson Community College in 2008 while undergoing chemotherapy and radiation for non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Joe was a licensed RN in Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, and Oklahoma and a Nationally Registered Paramedic. God, knowing Hickert’s thoughts, opened an EMS Directors position in Thomas County in 2011. When Joe didn’t exactly “jump” at the opportunity, God actually opened the position again. It was really God saying, “OK Hickert, you been thinking about a Director’s position for a few years--are you going to do this or are you just going to sit and spin?” January 1, 2012, Joe became the Director for Thomas County EMS and had a great bunch of people to work with. He stayed there until his health determined he should retire on June 4, 2015. Hickert was diagnosed with aggressive stage IV non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in 2008. NHL relapsed the following year and he underwent an autologous stem cell transplant in 2010. NHL never returned but he developed aggressive sarcoma in his left chest in 2013. He underwent several different regimens of chemotherapy from January 2014 until his death. He was blessed to be related to the Hoover girls, who taught him so much about family and bravery. Hickert enjoyed music and he thought his guitar playing was pretty good after 3-4 beers. His passion (other than EMS) was his bicycle. He did the Bike Across Kansas in 2002 and 2009. He did 4 century rides in 2009 and 2 centuries in 2013 preparing for his “bucket list” ride. August 24, 2013 he rode 230+ miles on Highway 83 from the Oklahoma line to Nebraska in 14 hours. He would have completed the ride an hour sooner, but he stopped in Scott City and flirted with a lady. He died believing himself the “luckiest man in the world.” Memorial service will be 10:30 am, on Saturday, October 1, 2016 at the Colby United Methodist Church, 950 S. Franklin Ave, Colby, Ks with no visitation as cremation has been chosen. Memorials are suggested to the Thomas County EMS in care of the Kersenbrock Funeral Chapel, 745 S. Country Club Drive, Colby, Ks. 67701. For Condolences visit: www.kersenbrockfuneralchapel.com.