 |
|
|
 |
| |
Last Issue:
Tuesday,
December
18
2007
|
|
|
|
|
Campus Says Goodbye to a Colorful Character
 |
Dee Bickley runs in one of nine Marine Corps Marathons she completed. She began racing at age 72. She received sponsorship from Nike Shoe Company.
|
Known for her brightly colored outfits and her wit, long-time volunteer Donietta "Dee " Bickley was a welcome addition to many campus settings. Bickley died on Sept. 2, just four days shy of her 90th birthday.
As a member of the universitys Retired Volunteer Service Corps, Bickley worked in several units. Jed Collard, the programs coordinator called her one of our treasured volunteers. She had a wide circle of friends among the faculty, staff and students.
Bickley was also a long-time resident of College Park. She also lived in Corpus Christie, Texas; Colorado Springs; Tripoli, Libya; Milan and Rome, Italy; Adana, Turkey. One of her four children, Joseph, still lives in the College Park. He says his mom loved being a part of the campus and city. She even worked as a parking enforcement officer for College Park in the '70s.
The students loved her. She would go into the Rendezvous, as it was known then, and tell the kids, Im giving out tickets so that they could come feed the meter, he said. Often, students stuck up for her when others tried to give her a hard time.
Born Donietta Scarcia in Pietracamela, Italy, Bickley was the eldest of 11 children. Her family moved to Saxton, Pa. when she was three months old. As a young woman, she attended Thompsons Business College in York. She soon met her husband, James, a mechanical engineer.
Living her philosophy of keeping her mind active, eating healthy and staying fit, Bickley walked everywhere within a 10-mile radius, says her son. She would walk around her neighborhood, delivering the Diamondback to elderly neighbors so that they could keep up with campus events.
Taking her healthy lifestyle further, Bickley began to run. When she found early March of Dimes 25-mile walks not enough of a challenge, she began training for marathons. She was nationally ranked in her age group for many years until she developed lymphedema in 1998, a condition that causes swelling in the lymphatic system.
Her volunteer efforts continued, though. She worked with the Adult Health Development Center, the campus Health Center and at the Kennedy Center.
Being Italian, she loved the operas, says Joe Bickley. She would come home and tell us all about them.
She also attended classes at Maryland. Her son Jack Bickley, who lives in Alexandria, says that while Dee Bickley was a student in a gerontology practical lab class that interacted with nursing home residents, they had difficulty finding subjects who were older than she was.
Bickley is survived by her daughter Cynthia Ann and sons James, Joseph and John; 55 nieces and nephews, 11 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Services for Bickley will be held in Saxton, Pa. at the Long View Cemetery. The family asks that donations be sent to the Saxton Public Library, 190 Front St., Saxton, PA 16678-8605.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
