Betty Thornton Hickman

Betty Thornton Hickman, 63, of Melfa, VA, passed away Wednesday, April 19, 2023, at Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital in Onancock, VA. Born February 2, 1960, in Nassawadox, VA, she was the daughter of the late Bobbie Dean Thornton and Barbara Leigh Thornton.

Betty graduated from Atlantic High School in 1978, and soon after, married the love of her life, Bradley Dean Hickman. Throughout the 80s and 90s she worked for Meatland Grocery in Pocomoke City, MD, and Parksley, VA. Betty’s work ethic was unrivaled and there wasn’t a regular customer she didn’t know by name. Over the next two decades, you’d find her behind the counter at Doughty’s Market in Melfa, always with a smile and friendly banter. Betty, known to many as “Betty Boo,” never met a single soul that didn’t instantly love and respect her. Friday and Saturday nights at the Hickman residence were reserved for watching episodes of “Live P.D.” and Sundays were spent watching football. It was then you would see Betty’s feisty side, yelling at the idiot criminals or shaking her fists when her beloved Dallas Cowboys were losing. As the kind, loving, hard-working matriarch of her family, Betty was fiercely loyal to her role as a wife, mother, and “Mom Mom Boo.” Her presence will be greatly missed by those who knew and loved her.

She leaves to honor her memory, her husband of 44 years, Bradley Dean Hickman; children, Nicole Crockett and her husband, Larry, Jr., of Melfa, and Randy Hickman of Dover, DE; sisters and brothers, Lori Boston, Trisha Boyer, Michael Thornton (Roberta), and James Thornton, all of Maryland; grandchildren, Bonnie and Makayla Crockett and Austin, Cody, and Hunter Hickman; several nieces, nephews, and close friends; and her grandpuppies, Tray and Callie.

A service to celebrate Betty’s life will be held at the Williams-Onancock Funeral Home on Monday, April 24, 2023 at 4:00 p.m., with The Reverend Robert Garris officiating.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to assist the family with funeral expenses, payable to Williams Funeral Home, P.O. Box 1, Parksley, VA 23421 or online at https://www.williamsfuneralhomes.com/payments.

Memory tributes may be shared with the family at www.williamsfuneralhomes.com.

Arrangements by the Williams-Onancock Funeral Home.

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