IN MEMORY OF GARY HICKMAN
We are all grieving the loss of Gary, who passed away peacefully on September 19th, surrounded by our family.
Gary was born in Grimsby, Ontario, on July 16th, 1965, the youngest of Dr. Wilf and Jean’s four children. Sandy, Kathy and Peter all thought Gary was the favorite. Gary grew up playing hockey and soccer, swimming and taking extended family trips with his parents. His friends from the Grimsby High School basketball team, who took memorable camping trips, were his lifelong friends.
Gary had many interests, which is probably why he changed his major almost every year while he was at the University of Western Ontario. He often joked about finishing with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science.
Gary and Andrea re-met in Grimsby during the summer of 1986, and were together for the next 38 years. Our sons, Kyle and Bryan, enjoyed Gary coaching their hockey and Bryan’s soccer teams, sometimes. As they grew older Gary followed their musical interests, and chaperoned trips to punk and Warp Tour shows for Kyle, and Coachella for Bryan.
Gary spent his favorite time on bikes, particularly riding with Dan Cornet on Sundays, or at Harmon Canyon on his mountain bike. He loved the year-round opportunity that Ventura offered to be outside hiking, running and swimming in the ocean.
Gary suffered from arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), which cause blood to flow directly from high-pressure arteries to low-pressure veins, and cause hemorrhages. His AVMs happened to occur in his brain. Fortunately, our family lived in Toronto when Gary had his first two brain hemorrhages, and he was well cared for at Toronto Western Hospital. Gary suffered his third brain hemorrhage while travelling on business in Paris (not Ontario), and due to the size and location, it was not operable. He did not regain consciousness, and he passed away six days later, after life support was removed.
Gary worked as a Project Manager for a point-of-sale (restaurant) software company for over twenty years. During this past summer, he admitted that he wanted to be an artist. Here we leave you with some of his recent art.
Click on the link to donate towards a bench in Gary Hickman’s memory
If you prefer to donate towards Gary’s bench by check, please mail it to the following address with Gary Hickman written in the memo line.
Ventura Land Trust
P.O. Box 1284
Ventura, CA 93002
Our family would appreciate it if you had any Gary memories, or other anecdotes that you would like to share, please add them in the space below.
“Gary was an amazing friend, supporter, and champion of Ventura’s outdoors and VLT. His excitement for the preserves and beaming smile at out events will be greatly missed -Ventura Land Trust