From South Carolina-
The word that keeps emerging about the Rev. Mellie Hickey is "trailblazer."
The Episcopal priest died in Aiken on Friday at the age of 94, leaving behind a remarkable legacy. When she was ordained as a priest at St. Thaddeus Episcopal Church, Hickey was the first woman in the South to attain that status.
She was 62 at that time, and, over nearly three more decades, she worked in interim capacities at two churches. Hickey was 74 when she and her husband, the late Rev. Howard Hickey, moved for two years to South Dakota, where she directed three churches on the Cheyenne Indian River Reservation.
Even in her 80s, Hickey spent about six years as the All Saints Episcopal Church rector in Beech Island.
In some ways, said son Howard M. Hickey, his mother's spiritual journey that began in late middle age didn't seem to fit her upbringing. She grew up in the small town of Tarboro, N.C., and attended a strict Presbyterian girls' college.
"But over time and by being the wife of an Episcopal priest, she grew to love the church," he said. "She was fascinated with the theological aspects of it and felt there was definitely a place for women's ministry. She was also very academic, always reading."
In 1974, Hickey enrolled at the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, close to her home of her daughter, also named Mellie, in Washington, D.C.
More here-
http://www.aikenstandard.com/Local/0220-mellie-hickey-obit-feature
No comments:
Post a Comment