HICKLIN, Dr. Martin

HICKLIN, ANDERSON, SIMPSON

Posted By: Nancy (email)
Date: 5/17/2003 at 09:52:16

April 24, 2003 Morning Sun News-Herald and The Wapello Republican.

Dr. Martin Hicklin

Dr. Martin Dale Hicklin, M.D., M.P.H., age 79, of Stone Mountain, Ga, died Thursday, April 10, 2003, at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, following a sudden heart attack.

He was born Nov. 23, 1923, in Wapello Township, Louisa County, Iowa, the second child of Edwin Reichley and Leona Irene Anderson Hicklin. On March 6, 1954, he married Carrie Scott Simpson in the home of friends at Valdosta, GA.

Dr. Hicklin attended the Wapello Public School. He was in the starting lineup when the football program was renewed in 1940, and was Valedictorian of the high school class of 1941. After high school, he attended the University of Iowa, graduating from the College of Medicine in March, 1947. He served an internship at Rochester General Hospital, Rochester, NY, and subsequently obtained a Masters Degree in Public Health from the University of Minnesota.

In 1952, following the position of Public Health Director for Des Moines County, Iowa, he joined the US Public Health Service, rising to the rank of Captain before his retirement in 1982. During his time with the USPHS he was stationed at the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, at the Virus and Rickettsia Laboratory at Montgomery, Ala., and ultimately at the Center for Disease Control (CDC) at Atlanta, where he served as Chief of Pathology. Among his achievements of note was his significant role in the identification of what became known as “legionnaires Disease”, which afflicted an American Legion Convention in Philadelphia in the 1970s.

Blessed with an agile mind and retentive memory, he never ceased being a student. His interests were wide ranging, including the sciences, history, literature, music, and other arts. After retirement, following in the footsteps of his maternal grandfather, Dr. M.F.Anderson, his endless curiosity led him back to school and into such diverse fields as geology, gerontology and landscape design. Within his last few days he had attended a seminar concerning severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

He and Carrie shared an enthusiasm for horticulture, developing and growing azaleas, camellias, and rhododendron from seeds.

He was a Methodist and also a member of Sigma Nu, Nu Sigma Nu, and Phi Beta Kappa fraternities, and numerous professional associations. He was a US Army veteran of World War II.

Survivors include his wife, two sons, Christopher Edwin Hicklin and wife Hope, of Marietta, GA, and Barrie Thomas Hicklin and wife Linda of Greenville, S.C.; also stepson Scott D. Simpson and wife Cathy, of Union City, N.C.; four grandchildren and three step-grandchildren. He is also survived by two brothers, Edwin A. Hicklin, Wapello, and Charles W. Hicklin, Mariemont, Ohio; and four nieces and a nephew.

He was preceded in death by his parents and a sister, Portia Irene, who died in infancy.

A memorial service was conducted by the Rev. Claude Bennett, Sunday afternoon, April 13, at Wages and Sons Funeral Home in Stone Mountain. Burial will be in the Wapello Cemetery at a later date.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Hicklin-Winter Scholarship Fund at State Bank of Wapello.