11/07/2025
Our dad, Jeffrey George Hickey, the best thing to ever happen to us, passed on Oct. 11, 2025, unexpectedly at the age of 79, after a horrific house fire in Weaverville, California.
Jeffrey was born on Aug. 6, 1946, to Frances and Donald Hickey. He is survived by his two daughters, Angela Brooks and her husband Eric, and Wendy Greene; his grandchildren and his great-grandchildren.
He is also survived by both of his siblings, Donald and Murray Hickey, whom he loved, missed and talked of frequently. Jeff has two nieces, Donald’s daughters, Janet and Karen, that he asked about regularly. Jeffrey always talked about his childhood and his brothers with great happiness and attributed his wonderful personality to having great parents and grandparents.
Jeffrey was raised in the Bay Area, graduating from Woodside High School in Redwood City, California. He spent his entire childhood and most of his adult life in the Bay Area before moving to Trinity County roughly 10 years ago to be closer to his daughters and grandchildren. Before moving to Trinity County, Jeffrey spent several years selflessly caring for his own father after his retirement.
Once he moved to Trinity County, he fell in love with Weaverville quickly and said he was grateful to be here every day.
Jeffrey served our country after being drafted into the Army at a very young age and then operated heavy equipment for PG&E for over 40 years supporting his family. He was one of the most committed and hardworking employees and earned several awards during his time with PG&E. Jeffrey also worked hundreds of hours during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.
Jeffrey was the most generous and caring father of two daughters, Angela Brooks and Wendy Greene, who adored their father as much as he adored them. He made his daughters feel safe, loved and wanted all the time, putting them first always.
Jeffrey taught his daughters to love unconditionally, to choose forgiveness and kindness, and to celebrate life whenever possible
Between Wendy and Angela, Jeffrey is the grandfather of 13 grandchildren. The oldest and first grandson, his namesake, and so similar to his grandfather in his work ethic, Jeffrey Hickey (JJ) and his spouse Savannah. JJ was taken care of often by grandpa when he was born and into his toddler years. His grandpa loved taking care of him when he was little and it was one of the biggest joys of his grandfather’s entire life.
Tayler Gunter, her husband Levi, and their three children, Mackinzee Lynn, Greyson Allen, and Colton Michael. Tayler and Levi were always there for grandpa doing house chores, yard work, helping to take him to doctors’ appointments and whatever else he needed or wanted at the drop of a hat, always. Tayler was always trying to find special gifts for her grandpa and baking him homemade chocolate birthday cakes just like his mom did, which he loved so much. He appreciated them so much and knew he could count on them for anything. The kids loved him and he was so excited about Mackinzee’s softball career starting so young.
Deidra White and her little one, Julian Peacock. Kylee White and her spouse Abigail Williams. Deidra and Kylee made him so proud with what they have done with their lives and careers. He was impressed that Deidra graduated from Esthetician school on her own, and made a career for herself. Kylee took after her grandpa and enlisted in the Army a few years ago, he was so in awe of that, always inquiring about her whereabouts and what she was doing. Kylee was able to fly in for 72 hours after the fire, to see her grandfather one more time before deploying. Deidra lives far away but always tries to be on a Facetime call with us for special moments with him and he always asked about her and expressed wishing he could see her and Julian more often, but being thankful for technology and being able to see them.
Ryan Warren, who shared so much time and responsibility with his mother caring for his grandfather, building his dream car with him and pulling him out of that fire. Ryan was always the first to arrive when grandpa would need help. They spent countless hours talking about cars and guns and making decisions for grandpa’s El Camino. They had planned to do a car show together and Ryan will now carry that on in his grandfather’s memory. Ryan also shared his spouse Maggii, and their son Michael, with grandpa almost every day. Baby Michael had his own chair on grandpa’s porch. Grandpa and Maggii bonded deeply during the time they lived next door to each other, and she was helping to care for grandpa’s medical needs. Grandpa would always say that if you didn’t feel happy just looking at baby Michael, there was “something wrong with you.” Grandpa loved watching Michael grow.
Emily Greene and Estelle Greene, who joined our family by marriage over a decade ago, were also very loved by their grandpa. He never batted an eye at them being “his granddaughters.” He was proud of Emily for recently finishing school and had high hopes for Estelle’s future. He recently pitched in to help her get a new car, as he took pride in being able to help everyone to be in a safe and reliable vehicle, especially his grandchildren.
Michael Hastey, who grandpa missed enormously and used to have long talks with. Michael helped a lot with moving grandpa to Weaverville, lots of drives to the Bay Area and back. Michael was so happy to have grandpa close and there is no doubt in our mind that they would have made so many more memories together.
And last, but not least, on Wendy’s side, the youngest, Charlotte Greene. Charlotte spent so much time with her grandfather the past several years and they were able to get very close. They shared report cards and her schoolwork, and Charlotte would show him her recent ballet moves. He never stopped talking about Charlotte and she was definitely the apple of his eye. He always said “there is nothing that girl cannot do, she’s simply amazing,” while shaking his head. They would always blow kisses goodbye, and she never saw him without a big hug for him.
Brittney and David Withers, and their little one Jude David. Brittany was the first grandchild in the family and always held a special place in his heart. Her husband David has worked tirelessly trying to salvage some of grandpa’s vinyl albums, which grandpa loved and collected for so very long. Grandpa would want us to have some musical memories of his to share. Brittney and David both are truly selfless and special, and grandpa would be amazed at what they have both done to help our family navigate this loss since the breakout of the fire and even now. The things they have done are the reason that grandpa would always say he had the best family.
Cody, Chris and Caden Brooks. When Cody was young, he and grandpa were close and Cody loved his grandpa coming to visit and like all the other grandchildren, Cody looked up to him. Caden had spent quite some time with grandpa at Mercy Hospital last year when grandpa was sick, spending hours just sitting by his bed so he wouldn’t be alone. Grandpa was excited that Caden had just finished EMT school and thought it was so cool. Chris had recently moved back to the area and was just getting close with his grandpa. Recently grandpa got to see a video of Chris proposing to his girlfriend and he was so happy for Chris. He smiled the whole time he watched that video.
All of Jeffrey’s great-grandchildren would always ask to go to “Grandpa’s house.” They loved him immensely, and he always lit up when they came around. It was his favorite thing to do in the whole world, hang out with all the kids and have dinner, watching the little ones play. He was eagerly waiting for Thanksgiving and was really looking forward to it being at his house this year. He talked about it so much and was looking forward to Tayler’s deviled eggs.
Jeffrey made quite the impact on all his grandchildren, teaching them to have a hard work ethic, a loving legacy of family values, a passion for classic cars and constantly demonstrating loving and supporting your family unconditionally. Jeffrey showed empathy, forgiveness and compassion for everyone he met. In his younger years, Jeffrey was married to the love of his life, Andrea, who also unexpectedly passed away in 1997. He never remarried.
All Jeffrey ever wanted in this life was to be with his children, buy his dream house, work on his yards and his dream cars, which included a Shelby GT 350 Mustang and a ’69 El Camino. He loved the races and was an avid racing fan. He also loved the 49ers and the San Francisco Giants. Jeff had a love of photography, beaches, airplanes and muscle cars that was passed on to his daughters and grandchildren. His home was filled with pictures of the kids and grandkids, along with photos dating back over 50 years of the hundreds of races he attended showcasing the fast cars he so loved.
Jeffrey also had a sweet tooth and loved Pepsi, Starbucks, Peanut M&Ms and chocolate milkshakes! There are a lot of people from town that will miss him sitting at Starbucks, people watching with his Mustang. He loved those Starbucks baristas and they made him feel special whenever he went in there.
Jeffrey loved German shepherd dogs and never stopped talking about the three he had when he was younger — Abe, Elsa and Sadie.
He also loved his big orange kitty, named “kitty,” who was his closest companion for the past three years. Sadly, his kitty also perished in the fire.
Due to being diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis, being extremely hard of hearing, and losing a grandson in the past few years, life was rough during some patches of the last few years as he fought with his health. Nevertheless, Jeffrey always found the positive in every situation, and didn’t let a day go by saying how thankful he was to have the life he had and to be right where he was, even on his most difficult days. He always said “there are people who have it worse, I am blessed.” One of his favorite sayings was “there is always, always, always, something to be thankful for,” which hung on a sign in his dining room.
There are no adequate words to describe how much he is already missed and the hole that has been left in our family’s hearts. Jeffrey was the epitome of a good man, a good father and an even better grandfather. Our hope is that all of our children will in some way be like him.
Angela and Wendy want to express thank you to all of those in Weaverville who have asked about our dad and helped with many different things. Special thank you to Megan Scalzo for helping put together the meal train. We are beside ourselves with pain and sorrow and just miss him so very much. We hope to rebuild and do things the way we know our dad would have wanted. Angela has already joined a Mustang club in his honor, and Wendy will continue the legacy in Weaverville at his home. We both hope to live our lives to the fullest and make him proud.
As the family is still quite in shock and struggling to make sense of this tragedy, we have not planned a service yet. The family will post on social media and the paper when the time comes. Thank you for your understanding.