REBECCA SICKELS

Rebecca Mae Sickels, age 85, died on Tuesday, July 19, 2022, at Theda Clark Hospital in Neenah.

Becky was born in Annapolis, Maryland on September 22, 1936, to Merle and Harriet Campbell. She grew up alongside her two younger sisters, Prudence and Susan. Her father's career in dairy husbandry enabled her to have many unique and enriching experiences as a young girl including living on a farm in Dundee, Illinois and visiting Bogota, Columbia. The family eventually moved to Oconomowoc, Wisconsin where Becky attended high school and developed a life-long love for literature, drama and music. She played the bride in the school play “Father of the Bride” and demonstrated skill in forensics, winning the Jaycees Voice of Democracy contest and going to state finals three times, earning an “A” rating for her serious declamation “Camille”.  Her high school yearbook claimed, “Becky's bubbling with skill and fun, but different from the common one”. Becky graduated from Oconomowoc High School in 1954.

She attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech with a Theatre minor in 1958. Becky continued her love of drama and acted in multiple musicals and plays. She belonged to the Tri Delta Sorority, including being president her senior year. She was awarded the “Hello Girl” for Northwestern, a campus-wide honor, for her outgoing personality. It was at a Tri-Delta/Sigma Nu party that she met her husband, William Fredrick Sickels M.D, and they married on March 21, 1959.

Becky and Bill lived in an apartment in Chicago, while Bill attended Northwestern Medical School and Becky taught English and Speech at Prospect High School in Mount Prospect, Illinois. She especially enjoyed helping direct the school plays. From there, they moved to Rochester, Minnesota while Bill was in medical residency at the Mayo Clinic, finally settling in Neenah, Wisconsin when Bill and Becky were recruited to the Riverside Clinic in Menasha. Over the years, Bill and Becky had five children and Becky stayed home to raise the children. She was involved in several civic and community organizations including The Wednesday Club, a rigorous literary study club, the Women's Tuesday Club of Neenah-Menasha, Meals on Wheels, and the Great Books program in the Neenah Joint School District. She was a long-time member of the First Presbyterian Church in Neenah and volunteered as a Church Deacon. She also enjoyed tennis, dancing at the Century Club, attending the Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra performances and events at the Performing Arts Center in Appleton. Becky also loved traveling and she and Bill traveled many times to Europe, Sanibel Island, Door County, the northern woods of Wisconsin, as well as returning frequently to the Chicago area. They also loved to attend the opera in New York City.

Becky is survived by her husband of 63 years, Bill; her sisters Susan Adams and Prudence Alfaro; sister-in-law Nancy Callahan; brother-in-law Jim Callahan; daughter Anne (Peter) Jones; sons William Sickels, Timothy Sickels and David (Ellyn) Sickels; ten grandchildren: William Sickels, Jenna (Charles Tralmer) Sickels, Emily Sickels, Caroline, Natalie and Ethan Jones, Lucas, Reid, Miley and Davis Sickels; great grand-daughter, Adelynn Tralmer; and many nieces, nephews and friends whom she was deeply fond of. She was preceded in death by her parents, daughter Jennifer Lynn Sickels, brothers-in-law Robert Adams, William Hahne, and Anibal Alfaro and sister-in-law Mary Hahne.

Becky's life reflected her deep love for Bill and her children, her commitment to friends, her passion for giving back to others, and her strive for excellence in herself.

A memorial service and celebration of Becky's life will be held at 12:00 noon on Sunday, July 24, 2022, at First Presbyterian Church, 200 Church Street, Neenah, with Pastor Richard Moore officiating. Visitation will be at the church from 11:00 a.m. until the time of the service. A light lunch and reception will be held in Fellowship Hall at the church following the service. Burial will be in Oakhill Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to a charity important to Becky and Bill, Doctors Without Borders.