Charlotte L. Hickman

Charlotte Louise Topping Hickman was born October 12, 1935 in a little house that was formerly a schoolhouse off France Lane in Ross County, Ohio. She passed away on Friday, December 18, 2020 at the Bluebird Retirement Community in London, Ohio after a long battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. Charlotte, called “Char” and “Mom/ Grandma” by her family and friends, was preceded in death by her parents Herman J. and Lucille A. Topping, her brother Ronald Topping and her sister Helen Topping Conkel. She is survived by her best friend and one love, her husband Melvin M. Hickman; her daughters Julia Brakenbury (Kenneth), Cheryl Taylor (Phil) and Gretchen Nelson (Brian); her grandchildren Christopher Brakenbury (Peggy Anderson), and Adam Brakenbury (Olivia); her step grandchildren Meghen Sanders and Chris Taylor (Jill); her great grandchildren June and Benjamin Brakenbury; her step great grandchildren Adeline and Bryson Sanders, and Lois and Jack Taylor. Charlotte is also survived by one sister, Patricia Britton. She attended Ross County Schools and graduated from Southeastern High School in Richmond Dale, Ohio on May 19, 1953. Her family remembers Charlotte telling them she liked school and was a great student but hated gym class. This led her to keeping score at basketball games to earn her gym credits so that she could graduate. Her first travel outside of Ohio was for a graduation trip with her senior class to Washington, D.C. which started a lifetime of traveling and exploring with her family and in later years with her husband. Charlotte’s first job immediately out of high school was as an administrative secretary to the superintendent of Southeastern Local School District. This ultimately led to a career of working in similar roles for Manpower Training Center and later for Jackson City Schools. She finished her career at Jackson High School. She met her husband Melvin at a church picnic at Old Man’s Cave at Hocking Hills State Park. Melvin delighted in telling people that “Charlotte caught him in her web and he never got out.” After marrying, they happily built their lives around each other and after retirement often returned annually to Old Man’s Cave for dinner on their anniversary. While always working full time, Charlotte was an accomplished seamstress and made many of the clothes for her daughters through the years. She was an awesome cook who also loved to bake (her sugar cookies were the best), enjoyed crafts and decorating her home for holidays, supported her daughters’ school activities by being a homeroom mother, band mom, school trip and band trip chaperon, and much more. She was an avid reader who developed a notorious habit of reading the beginning and the end of books before deciding if the book was good enough to read all the way through. Her community activities included membership at Christ United Methodist Church where she was involved in women’s circle and taught Sunday School for years when her daughters were small; was a member of Jackson Lioness Club and later Jackson Lions Club, and Jackson Mothers Guild. She had the gift of wit and a spirited sense of humor and could pull pranks with the best (a trait not always admired by her family!), yet was often quiet and unassuming in more public situations which amazed her family. After retirement, Charlotte struggled with health issues which led to her and Melvin leaving their much-loved home at 210 Dawson Street in Jackson to move into assisted living at the Bluebird in London, Ohio. As it does with so many, the disease took its toll. Charlotte, Char, Grandma will be greatly missed, and the world will be a less warm and bright place without her. She will be forever in our hearts. Her family wishes to thank our many friends who have supported us, as well as the staff of the Bluebird and Miami Valley Hospice for their care of Charlotte. Private burial will be at Little Mound Cemetery in Richmond Dale, Ohio. The family would appreciate condolences to be sent to Melvin Hickman, 2260 State Route 56 SW, The Bluebird/ Room 215, London, OH 43140. Funeral arrangements are by the Mayhew-Brown Funeral Home in Jackson.

Charlotte L. Hickman

October 12, 1935 - December 18, 2020