Al Thomas Hickman
Al Thomas Hickman, 94, of Dalton passed away on Monday, November 19, 2018, at Hamilton Medical Center.
He was born in San Francisco, Ca., the son of the late Albert and Augusta Coulter Hickman. He attended Catholic and public schools in San Francisco.
Al is survived by his wife of 46 years, Betty Martin Dyer Hickman of Dalton; and children and their spouses in California, Georgia and Nevada, Fred and Pat of Upper Lake, Ca., Denise and John Litz of Carson City, Nv., Mark and Cecelia Dyer of Dalton, and Jeremy and Georgia Hickman of Chatsworth, as well as Steve Hickman of Alabama and Lawrence Hickman of Texas, Sherry Hixon of Dalton; grandchildren Aaron and Shannon Litz of Nevada, Janelle and Jake Musselmann of Nevada, Brenna and Darren Bell of Nevada; other grandchildren in California, Georgia and Nevada by given names Brian, Thomas, Nicole, Steven, Matthew, Tom, Alisha, Sierra and their families; beloved great-grandsons Chandler Hickman and Tyler Dill of Dalton; brother in-law and spouse, Barbara Martin of Dalton and four nieces, Keela, Brenna, Marianne and Lisa of California and Georgia. At Al’s 90th birthday in 2014 a family tree was drawn listing the names of five children, 13 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren and eight great-great-grandchildren.
Al lived in San Francisco until age 40, where his mother raised him and his sister, Tempa, At a young age his mother learned to make fur coats from pelts provided by a local trapper which were sold to retailers in the city.
As a youth he was impressed with the athletic rings and parallel bars in Golden Gate Park and learned some of those moves. There also his grandmother (from the Chattanooga, Tn., area) took Al and Tempa to concerts in the park.
During World War II he volunteered to join the military but was rejected because of poor vision and developed Macular Degeneration in the late 1990s. For a brief time he worked at McClellan Air Force Base where he met his first wife, Carlotta, who bore four children, Fred, Steve, Lawrence and Denise, all of whom he treasured and kept close over the years.
As a young father his early job was machinist for M. Greenberg Company, maker of fire hydrants. In recent years he took current family on a tour of many streets in San Francisco where he pointed out his handiwork and also homes where he had lived. One home on Haight-Ashbury Street was above a dry cleaning business which his mother owned and where he learned to press the uniforms of local military.
His longest work career was with in floor covering business in San Francisco—first with Coulter’s Carpets as supervisor where he organized and installed large cuts of woven carpet with his crews in businesses, such as the Mark Hopkins Hotel. While there, in 1947 he became apprenticeship coordinator for the Northern California Floorcovering Association—a liaison between labor and management whereby the association established training schools for beginner installers who wanted to become journeyman.
In 1968 he became director of carpet installation with the American Carpet Institute in New York City, and when ACI merged with the Tufted Textile Manufacturers Association in Dalton in 1969 he moved to Chattanooga, continuing as installation director for the Carpet and Rug Institute now headquartered in Dalton where it continues to exist as CRI. While there he conducted 22 carpet installation seminars across the United States to update industry journeymen sent by their employers to learn new installation techniques and how to use the latest tools and accessories. Al and the Carpet Installation Committee developed currently used industry-standards booklets CRI-104 and 105. He was an active part of the National Association of Floor Installers and was honored to be given the Golden Hands award sponsored annually by the Installation Specialist monthly magazine.
In 1975 he began a business known as Carpet Installation Guidance Service helping mills, such as Shaw and Mohawk, solve problems with large commercial installations. As inspector/representative for manufacturers he traveled to 50 states in the United States and to, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean area and Saudi Arabia.
While employed with CRI, Al met his wife, Betty Martin Dyer, a native Daltonian who also worked at the CRI. During the 46 years of their marriage, Al and Betty established close relationships with family members on the East Coast and the West Coast, attending high school graduations and marriages of children, grandchildren and celebrating birthdays and family reunions on a regular basis. Upon his marriage to Betty he supported her family affiliation with the Dalton First Baptist Church, and in 1985 accepted the Baptist faith and became a faithful member of the church until his death. Together they were privileged to teach Sunday School classes with elementary age children for 26 years. Over a number of years the loving outreach of pastor Billy Nimmons was responsible for Al to decide to become a member of FBC Dalton where he has enjoyed Christian bible study and the fellowship of church friends.
The family wishes to thank all the staff at Hamilton Medical Center and the Hamilton Medical Hospice for the outpouring of compassion and care provided to Al and the family, including a special new friend in MICU, Cheyenne Brown, RN.
Services will be held at 3 p.m. on Sunday at First Baptist Church of Dalton with Rev. Jonathan Barlow and Rev. Phillip Cannon officiating. The family will receive friends prior to the service on Sunday from 1-3 p.m.
The family asks that in lieu of flowers contributions be made to First Baptist Church of Dalton, P. O. 827, Dalton, GA 30722-0827.