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MORRIS – Jerry Douglas Hickey, age 77, of Morris passed away peacefully on Saturday, April 23
at Danbury Hospital. He was the husband of Georgia (Cranston) Hickey for 46 years.

Mr. Hickey was born in Little Rock, Arkansas on August 3, 1938, a son of the late George R. and
Margaret (Carroll) Hickey. Jerry prepared for a long and successful corporate career at the
University of South Carolina, where he majored in Journalism and was a member of the Lamda
Chi Alpha fraternity. Following college, Mr. Hickey served his country in the United States Army,
assigned to the USARAL HQ Command at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska.

In 1968, he began his corporate career as director of public relations for the Day & Night and Payne
divisions of Carrier Corporation in City of Industry, California. He met Georgia in 1969 and they were
married in 1970. In 1972, Mr. Hickey was promoted to Carrier’s corporate headquarters in Syracuse, NY,
where he served as director of public information and, in 1979 was promoted to executive assistant to
the president for Carrier International Corporation. At CIC, he was charged with developing overseas
marketing programs and worldwide public relations programs; he traveled extensively, from Saudi
Arabia to South America, Australia, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Mexico and many parts of Europe.
Following the acquisition of Carrier Corporation by United Technologies, Mr. Hickey was recruited by
the president of UTC’s Otis Elevator to serve as his executive assistant. In 1991, he joined IMO
Industries in Princeton, NJ as director of corporate and marketing communications; he retired from
IMO in 1997 and formed a marketing communications consulting company (Strategic Communications
Inc.), which he operated until 2003.

Throughout his career, Mr. Hickey won many awards for his publications and annual reports, including
the Mercury Award (considered the “Oscar” in corporate communications) and many awards from the
Public Relations Society of America, of which he was a member.
In his early life, Mr. Hickey was an avid skier, sky diver and fisherman; he played the trumpet and
formed a band to help pay his way through school. Later, he enjoyed helping his wife raise, train
and show horses. Throughout his life, he was an avid reader, with a particular interest in history and,
not surprisingly, in the origin and use of words. He had a quick and retentive mind, as demonstrated
when he passed the qualifying test for “Jeopardy” multiple times. He was an animal lover who was
always happiest when his dogs were in his lap.

Active in the Town of Morris, Mr. Hickey served as chairman of the town’s Board of Finance, as
chairman of the town’s Republican Committee and as Justice of the Peace. He was a supporter
of the Morris Land Trust and the Morris Library.

In addition to his wife, Mr. Hickey is survived by his sister Carol Ann Bain of Little Rock, Arkansas.
He was predeceased in death by his parents and by his brother George.

Calling hours will be held on Thursday evening, April 28, 2016 from 6 until 8 p.m. at the Rowe Funeral Home, 283 Torrington Road, Litchfield. Burial services will be private.

In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Mr. Hickey may be made to The Little Guild of St. Francis
(animal rescue) at 285 Sharon Goshen Turnpike, West Cornwall CT 06796 or The Morris Public Library, 4 North Street, Morris CT 06763.

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