6/14/1937 – 4/21/2022
Salina, KS
Lois Eileen Hickel, 84, passed away on April 21, 2022, at home in Salina, Kansas. She was born on June 14, 1937, to Harry & Mildred (Wisehart) Elliott in Ransom. She married Edward Hickel on July 21, 1954, in Great Bend. He passed away on March 18, 1992.
A Salina resident in her later years, Lois also resided in Great Bend and Lawrence. She held a cosmetology license for over forty years but spent most of her working career empowering and training special needs adults at Cottonwood, Inc., in Lawrence. Lois was a member of the American Legion Auxiliary and did a lot of volunteer work. She was an artist, enjoying ceramics, arts and crafts, crocheting, knitting, poetry, listening to music, and painting anything that would hold still. She had a passion for bowling. Lois especially loved spending time with her family.
Survivors include, two sons, Jim (Karol) Hickel of Gardner and Jerry Hickel of Salina; a daughter, Tammy (Bill) Bowers of Lawrence; seven grandchildren, Brandon Hickel, Jamie Geist, Jerry Hickel Jr., Chris Wilkinson, Tava Cook, Melissa Smith, Kelcy Werts; twelve great-grandchildren; three great-great-grandchildren; and a dedicated family friend, Richard “R.C.” Sears. She was preceded in death by her husband; her parents; two brothers, Robert and Darold Elliott; a sister, Joan Keener; and a daughter-in-law, Sheila.
Visitation will take place on Thursday, April 28, 2022, from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Bryant Funeral Home with the family receiving guests from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Funeral service will take place at 1 p.m. Friday, April 29, 2022, at Bryant Funeral Home with Pastor Chris Lehew presiding. Interment will follow at Great Bend Cemetery. Memorials have been designated to the Saline County Special Olympics Bowling Team or Hospice of Salina, in care of Bryant Funeral Home.
Note: The Lawrence Times is offering Lawrence and Douglas County community members space to publish remembrances of loved ones who lived in this community, free of charge. These pieces are submitted by family and friends of the deceased and not written by our staff. Photos are also provided to the publication, and some may have been altered prior to submission. Read more obituaries here.
We are honored to be able to offer this service free to community members in mourning. We believe the last thing our neighbors need in those difficult moments is another financial matter to worry about. Please support the Times to help us continue providing this service — and news access — for all.
To submit an obituary to The Lawrence Times, please fill out the form at this link. We’re sorry, but we cannot accept obituary submissions via email or other means.
Receive obituaries via email
As of May 2026, we are launching a newsletter that will include obituaries only. Obituaries will no longer appear in our daily emails. You can sign up below to receive any and all of our emails. If you already receive our daily, weekly and/or occasional emails and you want to keep receiving them, please check those boxes as well.
Please make sure you click on the button that says “Yes, subscribe me to this list” in the email you receive or you will not receive future emails. That extra step is to protect you and make sure you’re not getting emails you don’t want.
