Sara Beth (Peck) Hickey of Chelsea, Michigan, has joined the parade of angels after a short and swift fatal illness.
Sara was born July 24, 1952, at the newly opened U of M Women's Hospital. The OB/GYN who delivered her was Dr. George Bacon, with whom she established a fine working relationship over 25 years later. Her parents, Philip R. Peck and Hazel Louise (nee Bryant) Peck, owned a farm on West Liberty Road, immediately west of Parker Road. Grandma Marie Peck lived just across the street in what is now Hillside Nurseries, and Sara was blessed to have Grandma in her life until age 28.
Sara attended Dexter schools from 1957 to 1970. Upon graduation, she took a job at the Upjohn Center at the University of Michigan Hospitals. Simultaneously, she enrolled in the RN program at Eastern Michigan University. After one year, she decided to travel a different path and dropped the nursing studies. She accepted a role as an administrative assistant in the hospital director's suite. Her competence and her ability to effectively communicate an idea across a diverse audience made her the ideal candidate for a new position: managing patient relations, so the risk management group didn't need to get involved in as many lawsuits as a result of disgruntled patients and/or families. She put out lots of fires.
After several years, she accepted a promotion to program manager at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital. In Mott, she really thrived and would spend the next 25 years becoming a well-recognized cohort to so many teams in the system. New roles and responsibilities were handed to Sara as she ran fundraising events. She served on the Mott Golf Classic team for over 10 years and organized the entire contingent of volunteers for these well-attended events. Her final role at the U of M was as a development officer, charged with raising $75 million in private gifts to aid in building the new Mott Hospital. New Mott Hospital in parentheses. After hitting the target, Sara decided to work for one more year so she could see how the new facility was functioning. Finally, in January 2014, Sara retired after over 44 years of service to Michigan Medicine.
In 1977, she met the brother of one of her associates and was smitten, despite his being her junior by a couple of years. They were married at Weller's Carriage House in Saline on September 29, 1979, and the union between Sara and Brian Hickey would continue up to her passing. The marriage produced the greatest gift Sara ever received: her son, Sye Thomas Hickey. The bond these two shared was unbreakable and heartwarming. Dad traveled overnight for many years, and Sara and Sye grew very close. Truth be told, he was such a cute and fun kid that everyone that met him was impressed with this boy, who was reading books at age three and studying plat maps in order to give driving directions to his parents.
Upon retirement, Sara enjoyed traveling with either of her boys: Brian took her to Italy, Ireland twice, England, Alaska, and all 50 states while Sye has shared his passion for national parks by taking Sara hiking in Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park, Yellowstone National Park among others. Remarkably, less than 90 days prior to her passing, Sara circled Jenny Lake in Grand Teton National Park, which is an almost seven-mile hike, as well as hiking the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone during the same outing.
Gardening and cooking were among the many talents she possessed. However, she is perhaps proudest of her pride of puppies: Tara, Avis, Lenticia, Hershey, and her beloved Gracie. These dogs each received care and love that would make any human jealous.
Survivors include her husband, Brian of Chelsea; her son, Sye of Las Vegas, NV; her two sisters, Melinda Lee (Neil) Robb of Jackson, and Susan Bryant Lillie Ray of Ann Arbor; and her brothers, Patrick Kilmartin Peck of Ypsilanti, and Russell D. Peck of Battle Creek; as well as many nieces and nephews. Also grieving her loss are her walking partners: Jill Crane, Beth Barenter, Carol Jackson, Amy Jo Herndon, and her bestie, Maribeth Hammer. The family is very grateful for all the kindnesses that have been bestowed upon them based on the mutual love of Sara.
A celebration of Sara’s life will take place at a later time. Cremation has taken place, and her remains will be interred at North Lake Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Faith in Action in Chelsea or the Humane Society of Huron Valley.
She treated everyone with respect, believed in the better nature of all humans, and treated animals magnanimously. She loved deeply and was deeply loved in return.
Arrangements by Staffan-Mitchell Funeral Home, Chelsea.
