Thomas Reichley Hicklin

Thomas Hicklin age 86 of Perry passed away on Thursday, April 22, 2021 at the Perry Lutheran Homes King's Garden Campus in Perry, IA. A memorial service in his honor will be held in Wapello, IA at a later date. Memorials will be given to the Hicklin-Winter Scholarship Fund and may be sent to State Bank of Wapello, 306 N Second St, Wapello, IA 52653. Thomas Reichley Hicklin was born on January 9, 1935 at Burlington, IA to Millard Fillmore and Cleora Mildred (Jackson) Hicklin. He was educated in the Wapello School system until 1949 when the family moved to Des Moines. He graduated from Theodore Roosevelt High School in 1952 and began his military experience as an ROTC Cadet at Iowa State College. He entered The United States Military Academy (West Point) in 1953, graduated in 1957 and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Regular Army. As a junior officer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers he went through the Officer Basic Course at Fort Belvoir VA, Airborne Training at Fort Benning, GA and prepared to go to the 12th Engineer Battalion (C). He served in the United States Army from June 4, 1957 to December 31, 1981. He was united in marriage to Marilyn Jacque Fischer at Basking Ridge, NJ on June 8, 1957. Graduating with a master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois in Champaign, IL in June of 1962, they headed for the Fort Worth Engineer District with duty as a project manager for construction at the Pine Bluff Arsenal, in Pine Bluff AR. Two years later, they're back at Fort Belvoir VA at the Engineer Officer Advance Course. Following graduation Tom headed for Vietnam as an advisor to a Vietnamese Engineer Battalion and the family headed for New Jersey to be near Lyn's parents. After a one-year tour, Tom was assigned as an R.O.T.C. instructor at Norwich University in Northfield VT. Tom was promoted to Major and after two years, he was assigned to the 27th Engineer Battalion in Vietnam as the operations officer. Another year in Vietnam and then back to the U.S. to Fort Leavenworth KS to attend the Command and General Staff College. The family was off again, this time to Northern Virginia where Tom worked in Officer Personnel and the curriculum division of the Engineer School, was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, and got a command position in Korea. The family stayed in Virginia while Tom commanded the 44th Engineer Battalion (Construction) and in 1972 he returned to the Washington D.C. area to be the executive to the Director of Civil Works in the Office of the Chief of Engineers. In 1977 they moved to Omaha and Tom became the Deputy District Engineer of the Omaha District, Corps of Engineers. He retired in 1982 and moved to Littleton Colorado to work as engineer project manager. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church, El Jebel Shrine, Masons, Society of American Military Engineers (SAME), and the Association of the United States Army (AUSA). He enjoyed golfing, hunting and travelling. He was an avid Chicago Cubs fan, Chicago Bears fan, and always cheered for Army Football. In death he rejoins his wife Marilyn Hicklin, and parents Millard and Cleora Hicklin. Left to cherish Toms memory are his daughters, Cortney (Jack) Hicklin Phillips, Evansville, IN, and Amanda (Lee) Webber, Billings, MT, grandchildren, Wilson Phillips, PFC Tessa Phillips and Hunter Skov, sister, Mary Margaret Morris, Eldora, IA, nephew, James Applegate, and second chance love Judy Swift. Special thank you to his care giver for the last several years, Gerry Bacon.