Paid Notice: Mary Elizabeth Tomlinson Hickey was born on January 21, 1945, in Pottsville, PA, when her father was serving in Europe with the 8th Air Force during WW II. Mary and Dad united for the first time when he came home in June of 1945.
Mary died on December 10, 2026, in the Wilson Health Care Center of Asbury Methodist Village, Gaithersburg, MD, from complications of C.O.P.D. and myasthenia gravis. She has circled the Sun, on Planet Earth, 80 times.
From Pottsville, PA, Mary’s family moved to Westfield, NJ, where Mary attended the Westfield public schools. Mary was a girl scout for many years and played clarinet in the high school band. After high school graduation in 1962, Mary attended Grove City College, PA, where she majored in biology and education, with a minor in German. During some of her college summers, Mary served as a camp counselor. Between her junior and senior years, Mary went to Germany for cultural immersion, working in a hospital, where she honed her skills in the German language. After college graduation in 1967, Mary taught German in the public schools in South New Jersey. There, she was “Fraulein Tomlinson.”
During her senior year at Grove City College, Mary met biology student Clarence (Corky) Hickey, who would become her husband of nearly 58 years. After Corky’s active duty service in the Army, Mary and Corky were married in 1968 and moved to Long Island, NY, where they lived for seven years. On Long Island, Mary taught general science and biology in the public schools of Westbury and Sag Harbor. On Eastern Long Island, Mary and Corky were members of the First Presbyterian Church of Amagansett where they taught Sunday School. During that time in NY, Mary also studied marine science and oceanography at Long Island University where she earned a Master of Science degree in 1977. For her Masters thesis, Mary studied the biology and ecology of bay scallops in the bays of East Hampton Town. It was among the first comprehensive research studies on bay scallops in those waters where the local scallop fishery was an important component of the local economy and local culture. Mary also worked at the new East Hampton Town Sea Food Producers Cooperative in Amagansett in the early 1970s. She worked in the retail business and behind the scenes in the shop while filleting fish. When Corky was a crewman with Bayman Jimmy Lester, Mary joined Jimmy’s wife Kathy as a member of the Baymen’s Association Ladies Auxiliary, affectionately called “The Bayladies.”
Mary and Corky moved to Rockville, Maryland, in 1976 where Mary taught biology at the Yeshiva School in Silver Spring, MD. In Rockville, Mary was a girl scout leader for several years and also served as a PTA officer in her daughters’ Wheaton Woods Elementary School in the 1970s and 1980s. Mary was a volunteer and public servant at heart. Nowhere, perhaps, was that best seen than at Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, MD, where Mary was a member for almost 49 years. At Bradley Hills, Mary taught Church School, was Chair of the Education Committee, served as an elected Elder on the Session of the Church, helped to organize and run a book study group, and served as Chair of the Church’s Chancel Guild which organizes the look, feel, and functionality of the Church’s Sanctuary for worship services and special events. Mary also served on an interfaith and inter-congregational committee that brought together the Christian Congregation of Bradley Hills, the synagogue of Bethesda Jewish Congregation, and the mosque of Maqaame Ibrahim Islamic Center all in Montgomery County, MD. Mary also helped to settle an immigrant family. The interfaith witness of this inter-congregational relationship was central to Mary’s faith and her service to God and country.
Mary and Corky moved to Asbury Methodist Village in June of 2024. Mary was a gardener and had a plot in the Resident Community Gardens, while growing flowers and herbs on her 3rd floor balcony, and in her apartment. Mary also participated in yoga and especially liked attending the Keese School of Continuing Education classes and having dinner in the Asbury dining rooms.
Mary is survived by her husband, Corky, of 58 years, her daughters Leigh Anne of Ashburn, VA, and Elizabeth Rachel of Flagstaff, AZ, and her granddaughter Juniper Grace Elewaut of Flagstaff, as well as the families of her sisters Virginia Mitchell (Scotch Plains, NJ), Sarah Thode (Cranford, NJ), Martha Underwood (Sanford, NC), and several nieces and nephews. Mary was very outgoing, helpful, and involved with all of her many friends, in whose company she always was delighted.
A Memorial Service for Mary Hickey was held Sunday, February 1 at 1:00 PM with light reception following, at Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church, 6601 Bradley Blvd, Bethesda, MD 20817. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to: Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church, Memorial Gift Fund (https://onrealm.org/BradleyHillsChurch/-/form/give/now), or to Holy Cross Hospital’s Holy Cross Health Fund: Nursing Excellence (https://giving.holycrosshealth.org/).
