Dorothy V. Hickman

Born in Denver in 1932 to Paul and Irene Martin Van Antwerp, Dottie graduated from East High School in 1950 and began her college career at Sullins College, Bristol, VA before returning to Denver and earning her bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education at Denver University. After teaching for a few years and traveling the world, she married the love of her life, Air Force Colonel Cleo Hickman on July 23, 1962, and enjoyed a loving marriage lasting 46 years until his death in 2009. Dottie never wanted to stop learning, moving or helping others. Combining her love of travel, learning and a love for her husband in 1974 she earned her pilots license; forever changing her children’s perspective of the world from the back of a station wagon looking out, to the back of a small plane gazing down. Having an insatiable curiosity and a lifelong love of adventure, she traveled to all 50 states and many other countries around the world. She was an avid skier and relished sharing that skill with her children, spending many school vacations skiing the Colorado Rocky Mountains. She was an artist. She painted, made and designed beautiful jewelry and even took a stab at designing and making doll houses. Dottie always knew how important human connection was and her love for people and her caring nature were evident in her many years spent working with The Denver Cancer Society and Junior League. Well into her 70’s she continued to enjoy luncheons with lifelong friends from the Gamma Phi Beta sorority at Denver University. Always a proper lady wanting to wear wide brimmed floppy hats and sip mint juleps at The Kentucky Derby she never missed an opportunity to make all feel welcome. Extremely dynamic, eclectic, c lever, kind, adventurous and incredibly intelligent Dottie will be ferociously missed by her sister Helen Van Antwerp, her children Garet Hickman (Jennifer), Paul Hickman (Kate) and Renee Douglass, her six grandchildren - Travis Douglass, Cole Douglass, Sydney Hickman, Grace Hickman, Vivian Hickman, and Veronica Hickman, as well as her step grandchildren Harper Meadows and Bryce Meadows, and many extended family members and lifelong friends