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Betty Hickey

[May 16, 2007]  Betty Jean Kraus Hickey, 75, of Lincoln died Wednesday, May 16, 2007, at 8:05 a.m. at her home.

Visitation will be 2-5 p.m. Sunday at Fricke-Calvert-Schrader Funeral Home in Lincoln, and the rosary will be recited at 4:45.

Her funeral will be at 10 a.m. Monday at Holy Family Church, with the Rev. Robert Hoffman and the Rev. R. Anthony Lee officiating.

Burial will be in Holy Cross Cemetery.

Mrs. Hickey was retired owner and operator of Kraus Retirement Home. She had also been an administrator at Lincoln Developmental Center for 11 years.

She was born Feb. 22, 1932, in Verona. Her parents were Henry William and Pearl Leiser Kraus. She married Eugene F. Hickey Sr. in Lincoln on Nov. 9, 1950.

She is survived by her husband of 55 years, in Lincoln; four sons, Eugene F. (and Marsha) Hickey Jr., Gary Hickey, David (and Crystal) Hickey and Joseph P. (and Wendy) Hickey, all of Lincoln; two daughters, Penny Pilbean of Glendale, Ariz., and Regina (and Eric) Maas of Taylorville; two grandchildren she raised, Chrystal (and Brian) Maas of Lincoln and Chad Hickey of Lincoln; one sister, Marjorie (and Bob) Davidson of Mesa, Ariz.; 22 grandchildren; and 24 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents; one brother, Joe Cooper; and twin great-grandchildren.

Her birth family came into her life in 1978, and her birth mother, Harriet Meyers of

Ottawa, survives. Her birth father, John Meyers, died in 1996. There are two brothers and four sisters surviving, Don (and Carol) Meyers of Ottawa, Robert (and Joanne) Meyers of Minot, N.D., Evelyn Aska of Sycamore, Sharon Nicholson of Ottawa, Sandy (and Joe) Stone of Ottawa and Shirley (and Tom) Yednock of Sarasota, Fla.

She was a member of St. Bridget's Catholic Church in Mesa, Ariz.

After her graduation from Lincoln Community High School she worked for the telephone company and at Stetson China Factory as a hand painter of dinnerware.

She traveled to be with her husband while he was in the Navy.

She graduated from Wesleyan University with a bachelor's degree in nursing, having entering the university when her youngest child started to school. She then established the Kraus Retirement Home in 1983. Her last years were spent in Arizona, where she was active in hospice nursing in Phoenix and surrounding areas.

Memorials may be made to Visiting Nurse Association Hospice Care, Holy Family Parish or Kraus Retirement Home.

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