Submitted by: Dan Rich

Louis J. Hickey Sr.

July 27, 1914 – Feb 24, 1951

South Bend Tribune 2/24/1951

Louis J. Hickey, 403 Lincoln Way West, co-director of the Hickey Funeral Home was killed instantly at about 3:55 a.m. today when his eastbound auto skidded out of control, struck a pole and turned over on U.S. highway No. 20, a quarter mile east of Elder road, near Mishawaka. He was a son of Thomas L. Hickey, Sr., prominent contractor.

The Hickey ambulance crew answered a call to the scene unaware of the identity of the victim, according to James Morris, the driver.

The widow, a patient in St. Joseph Hospital, where the couple’s fifth child was born two days ago, was informed of the tragedy by the family physician.

Deputies of the sheriff’s department said the treacherous icy stretch had been reported to the state highway department in Goshen at 12:05 and 3:00 a.m. following two injury and one non-injury accidents which preceded Hickey’s death.

Coroner T. C. Goraczewski said Hickey died of a skull fracture and internal injuries. Deputies said Hickey’s car showed skid marks about 100 feet long.

Hickey was born in South Bend July 27, 1914, and spent his entire life here. He attended St. Joseph parochial school and was graduated from Central High School, where he participated in sports. In 1934, 1935 and 1936 he played varsity football with the University of Notre Dame team. He was graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1937. He also was a graduate of the Indiana College of Embalmers, Indianapolis.

He was a member of the Indiana Funeral Directors association and the National Funeral Directors association. He was a member of St. Joseph Catholic parish, the Optimist Club, South Bend Lodge No. 235 Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks, the Indiana Club, Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus and the Notre Dame Alumni Club of St. Joseph Valley.

On Aug. 12, 1939, he married Lucille Eulitz who survives. Also surviving are a two-day-old son, James Michael; four other children, Patricia, Barbara, Louis Jr., and Joan; his parents; five brothers, Thomas L. Jr., Donald F., Gerald A. and Joseph E., all of South Bend, and John P. of Boston, Mass.; and two sisters, Mrs. C.J. Arnt and Mrs Gerald F. Sarb, both of Detroit, Mich.

Friends may call in the Hickey Funeral Home after 6 p.m. Sunday.

South Bend Tribune 2/26/1951

Funeral services for Louis J. Hickey, aged 36, co-director of the Hickey Funeral Home, will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday in St. Joseph Catholic Church, South Bend. Hickey was killed early Saturday in an auto crash on U.S. highway N. 20 east of Mishawaka.

Rev. Edward L. Heston, CSC, formerly of South Bend and now vicar procurator general of the Holy Cross Order, Rome, Italy, will be celebrant of the requiem high mass and Rev. Patrick J. Carroll, CSC, of the University of Notre Dame, a lifelong friend of the Hickey family will preach the sermon. Father Heston is a cousin of the deceased, Father Carroll is former pastor of St. Joseph Church.

Burial will take place in the St. Joseph Valley Memorial Park. Pallbearers will be Charles A. Sweeney, Richard R. Hanley, Jack Leahy, Joseph J. Cunningham Sr., Joseph J. Cunningham Jr., Edwin J. O’Donnell, James R. Morris and John H. Lloyd. Members of the South Bend police department and the St. Joseph County sheriff department and state troopers of the area, with whom the deceased had been closely associated, will be honorary pallbearers.

The Rosary will be recited in the Hickey Funeral Home at 7:30 p.m. today by the Daughters of Isabella Society, and at 8 p.m. by the Holy Name Society. Members of the Optimist Club, of which Hickey was a member, were to recite the rosary in the funeral home at 12:30 p.m. today.

South Bend Tribune 2-27-1957

Hundreds of mourners this morning crowed St. Joseph Catholic Church for funeral services for Louis J. Hickey of 403 Lincoln Way West, killed early Saturday in an auto accident.

Scaffolding used in redecorating the interior of the church was removed to provide more space. Many stood in the aisles. Hundreds of friends of the family Monday night viewed the body in the Hickey Funeral Home, of which the deceased was a co-director. Burial will be in St. Joseph Valley Memorial Park.