Inez Hickam left this earth on January 1, 2025, at the Stuart House, Centralia, MO.
 Funeral Services will be at 11 AM, Wednesday, January 8, 2024, at Memorial Funeral Home with private family burial to follow in Memorial Park Cemetery.
 Born in Huntsdale, MO on August 28, 1930, to Charles and Mary (Nowlin) Taylor. She spent her childhood on a farm near Rocheport, MO. She at­tended Linden, a one room school, and graduated from New Franklin High School. She was united in mar­riage to Jim Ed Hickam on August 4, 1951 and they resided on his family farm. They had two daughters, Mary Snyder and Linda Hickam. She spent her life taking care of her family. Jim Ed and Inez operated a cattle operation which she continued, on a smaller scale, after his death, until she retired. She worked hard throughout her life, always had a large garden and always available to provide assistance to neighbors when needed. She was a member of a generation of women who were strong, spoke their mind and were survivors. She instilled those traits in her daughters and granddaughters and taught them to be strong, independent women.
 She was active in 4-H and PTA when her children were young and was a 4-H leader for several years. She was an active member in the Warren Domestic Dames Extension Club and loved participating in activities with the group, i.e. crafts, flower arranging, etc. Later in her life, she was involved in the Friends of Rocheport and Epsilon Sigma Alpha (ESA). She helped raise money for a variety of causes, i.e., St. Jude’s, Muscular Dystrophy, Coyote Hills, through golf tournaments, house raffle and telethons. She was very proud of Rocheport and worked hard to raise funds to support various projects to enhance its beauty and ensure the history of the town was preserved.
 She was very active throughout her life and always enjoyed having a good time with friends and family. She loved hunting mushrooms in the spring, making peanut bridle and peanut clusters in the winter, playing pitch year around and traveling. She played cards with a group of women every Monday for over 50 years and initiated the monthly card games in Rocheport. It was not usual to go to someone’s house to play pitch for the evening or for several to get together and hold a pitch tournament. She traveled throughout the United States, visiting every state, and several countries abroad. Inez was very social and loved life, family and friends.
 She will be missed by her daughters, Mary (Bryan) Snyder of Columbia, MO and Linda Hickam (David Fountain) of Thompson, MO, granddaughters, Bridget (Clint) Gallup, Jamie (Pete) Stoops and Tara Fountain (Nick Hargrave), great-grandchildren, Jaden Gallup, Sophia Stoops, Harper Stoops and Raya Hargrave. She is also survived by a sister, Martha Traxler and two brothers, Warren Taylor and Albert Taylor, several nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her parents, two sisters Barbara Sontag, and infant Dorothy Taylor, a brother Charles Taylor, Jr., sisters-in-law Dorothy Hickam and Carol Taylor, brothers-in-law Carl Traxler and Bill Sontag.
 The family would like to express their gratitude to the staff of the Stuart House for their loving care and compassion during the last years of her life.
 Memorial donations are suggested to the Friends of Rocheport or Coyote Hills.