Hubert Frederick Ickes

Hubert Frederick Ickes died peacefully in his sleep on July 13, 2022.  He was born on January 5, 1923, in McKees Rocks, Pa., to the late Herbert William and Loretta Elsie M. Minder Ickes.  He graduated from Miles Bryant High School in McKees Rocks.  He joined the US Marine Corps and served in the South Pacific in VMB 12 (a special B-25 bomber squadron) as an automatic pilot/bombsight technician on Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa in World War II from June 1943 until January 1946.  Hubie was married to Alberta Marie Meyer on July 3, 1948.  He had two sons, Frederick Kenneth born in Pittsburgh, Pa., and Timothy Hubert born in Kingston, N.Y.  He attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering.  Then he began his 40-year career in Development Engineering with IBM Corporation during which he and his family lived in Pittsburgh, Pa., Massillon, Canton, and Alliance, Ohio, and Endicott, Kingston, and Poughkeepsie, N.Y., before retiring to Lynchburg, Va., in 1993.

He was the ultimate do-it-yourselfer, from repairing cars to replacing roofs to electrical wiring to felling trees.  He often assisted his neighbors whose DIY skills were more limited.  Hubie was an excellent ice skater and played on a semi-pro hockey team in Pittsburgh.  In upstate New York he learned to ski and passed on this skill to his two sons.  He loved golf and played it into his 80’s until a bad hip forced him to stop.  He became an avid reader in his senior years and especially liked western novels.

He is survived by Alberta, his wife of 74 years, son Frederick and his wife Claire of Lynchburg, Va., and son Timothy and his wife Rachael Bercey of Manchaca, Tx.  Also, three grandchildren: Colin (Rachel Best) of Knoxville, Tn., Andrew (Caitlin Miller Ickes) of Harrisonburg, Va., and Meghan Ickes (Harrison Muse) of Raleigh, N.C.  He was pre-deceased by his twin brother, Herbert, and brothers Harry, Charles, Wade, and Robert and sisters Elizabeth Byrom, Loretta Rogers, and Rosella Summers Cramer.

The family would like to thank all those involved with Hubert’s care at Runk & Pratt at Liberty Ridge and by Centra Hospice.

The family will receive friends from 11 a.m. until noon on Thursday, July 21, 2022, at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Lynchburg, Va.  There will then be a Mass of the Resurrection held at noon with a reception lunch immediately following.  In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations be made in Hubert’s memory to the American Legion, Attn: Honor Guard, 1301 Greenview Drive, Lynchburg, Va. 24502, or to the Lynchburg Humane Society, 1211 Old Graves Mill Road, Lynchburg, Va. 24502.

Tharp Funeral Home & Crematory, Lynchburg, is assisting the family.