HICKEY, Mary

Photo courtesy: Telegraph Herald

HICKEY, Mary. (Cuba City, WI--Dubuque, IA, June 6, 2005). Hickey, a retired special education teacher at AUDUBON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, was a member of the DUBUQUE COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT Board of Education. (1)

In 1954 efforts of the Dubuque County Association for Retarded Citizens, of which Hickey was a founding member, were successful in leading the Dubuque public schools to pioneer education for the handicapped. A 1941 CLARKE COLLEGE graduate and a licensed high school teacher, Hickey took additional hours to gain certification to teach life skills to special needs students. (2)

Hickey began teaching special education at Audubon in 1963. She helped establish the school's department of trainable mentally handicapped education and assisted in the design of a special classroom providing real life situations for the students. (3)

A founder and board member of the Dubuque County Association of Retarded Citizens, Hickey was a charter member and co-founder of AREA RESIDENTIAL CARE, INC. in 1966. Appointed by Governor Robert Ray to the Iowa Disabilities Council, Hickey helped establish a five-county Area Developmental Disabilities Council. She had also been a curriculum consultant for the special education department of the University of Iowa. Hickey was a member of the Dubuque School Foundation Board and was a charter member of the Catholic Daughters of the Americas. (4)

Hickey was the recipient in 1979 of the CLARKE COLLEGE Alumni Association's Distinguished Alumna Award presented annually to recognize outstanding achievement. She received the FIRST CITIZEN AWARD from the TELEGRAPH HERALD in 1981 as a result of her efforts on behalf of the handicapped. (4)

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Source:

1. Becker, Stacey, "Those With Disabilities Received Help from Hickey," Telegraph Herald, September 15, 2008, p. 39

2. "Mary Hickey," Telegraph Herald, November 24, 2019, p. 5A

3. Becker

4. Ibid.