Obituary of Vivian E. Hickman

Vivian E. (Tuttle) Hickman, 95, longtime resident of Iowa City, died Tuesday, February 16, 2016 at the Lone Tree Health Care Center. Funeral services will be held 11 a.m., Friday, February 19th at the Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service in Iowa City, where visitation will be held from 9 – 11 a.m. Friday. Burial will follow at Memory Gardens Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Zion Lutheran Church. Vivian was born March 22, 1920, in Peterson, Iowa, to David D. and Hedwig (Wolff) Tuttle. She grew up in Storm Lake, Iowa, graduating from Storm Lake High School in 1937, and four years later, from Buena Vista College in 1941. Following graduation, she taught high school mathematics in Maurice and in Battle Creek, Iowa. She was married to Forrest F. Hickman on June 3, 1944. Vivian and Forrest were re-united early in 1946, when he returned from the Pacific Theater of Operations. They taught a year at Highview Consolidated School in Linn Grove, Iowa, before moving to Ames, Iowa, where Forrest attended Iowa State College. Following his graduation, they lived at Swea City, Cedar Falls, and Washburn, Iowa, while raising their family. In 1959, Vivian joined the faculty of Geneseo Consolidated School in Buckingham, Iowa, and later taught in the Waterloo School System. After receiving her Master's in Librarianship from University of Denver, Denver, Colorado, in 1965, she joined the staff of the University of Iowa Libraries as a descriptive cataloger, which position she held until her retirement in June, 1983. Vivian taught several classes in Beginning Genealogy for the Continuing Education Program of the University. She had been a member of the Iowa City Genealogical Society and the Chickasaw County Genealogical Society and served as her family's genealogist. She was also a 72 year member of the American Legion Auxiliary and longtime member of Zion Lutheran Church. Throughout her life she enjoyed many interests. She was an accomplished seamstress, knitter, and embroiderer, an avid photographer, a compiler of scrapbooks on various subjects. One of her greatest satisfactions was the number of trips she and Forrest enjoyed, visiting 40 countries on six of the seven continents. Each trip has a series of journals recounting their adventures. She also enjoyed feeding the birds and squirrels in her yard and then telling of their antics. She is survived by son David and his wife Lynn of Iowa, daughter Iris and her husband Dean Baird of Illinois, and daughter Stephanie of North Dakota, 4 grandchildren, 10 great grandchildren plus another one due in May. She was preceded in death by her parents, her beloved husband of over 57 years, Forrest F. Hickman, and grandson Joel R. Hickman.