Patricia Sims Wickey was born on September 26, 1927, to loving parents Mildred Kincaid Sims and John Monroe Sims in Sun City, Kansas. She grew up in rural NW Oklahoma and SW rural Kansas. Despite losing her father at the age of 18 months, Pat considered herself a very lucky person.

Patsy spent many hours at her favorite place, the Kincaid Ranch in Kansas with Uncle John and Grandma Kincaid. There she was able to ride her bicycle, feed chickens, chase cats, watch the clouds, drive the tractor, make art, practice her super loud whistle, collect interesting rocks, eat fried chicken, and ride her Indian paint horse Beauty.

She attended school in Alva, Oklahoma. She also became a very good pianist. She maintained a friendship with her grade school friend Orpha all of her life. After high school, Pat attended the Saint Louis Institute of Music in Clayton, MO where she majored in piano and music education using the Progressive Series piano methods. While at SLIM, Patsy made lifelong friends who often gathered to talk piano and piano studio calling themselves the alum-chums. She attended school with many interesting people and had piano lessons with Madame Sirota. Pat wrote to her mother that this was the first time she really enjoyed playing the piano and wanted to practice. Pat also had the great fortune to study with piano prodigy Ruth Slenczynska at SIUe. Pat’s first piano student was Janet Glick, and the Glick family (Doctor, Alice, and Janet) became Pat’s family away from home.

The Institute prepared Pat for teaching music in the public schools for the Parkway and Riverview districts. Because of her piano expertise and ability to teach music theory to all ages, she really enjoyed teaching kids to sing, play musical instruments and enjoy music. Pat never met an instrument she could not play. Mrs. Wickey was often noted as a favorite teacher by her students (to this day). She was fair, kind, fun, spunky, strong, and cute her whole life and students loved her personality. She felt music could and should be a bridge to bring all people together. Pat also enjoyed accomplishing anything people said, “could not be done!”. This trait she inherited from her mother and passed onto her daughter.

After college, Pat stayed in St. Louis and met John Wickey whom she married. They had two children. When Pat married John, she immediately became a member of the very large Wickey family. Our house on the hill was a great house for parties and Pat was a gracious host. We often ate dinner on the red patio while we watched the Mississippi river roll by. Pat and John provided an idyllic childhood for their children. We attended the symphony, the Muny, and each played 2 musical instruments. During the summer, Pat would often make a detour at 2 PM to take her children to the zoo when it was time to feed the seals or to go to one of the many museums in St. Louis. She was so high energy that she rarely slept 6 hours a day. Her children often had to run to keep up with her! Pat was also a member of NOW and fought for women’s rights. John and Pat were married for 67 years.

The family eventually moved to Houston to the Norchester neighborhood. There Pat learned to play tennis (at 55) and made many friends. Pat was a natural athlete with exceptional eye-hand-foot coordination. She really loved playing tennis. We spent many a happy time laughing and hitting tennis balls with our dear friend Paula and her children Chip, Tal, and Boo. Pat also had a plethora of piano students in the neighborhood. Pat was the first President of the Cypress Creek Music Teachers Association (CCMTA). Pat also taught at the University of Houston for a short time.

Pat & John moved back to Saint Louis in 2009 and made several new dear friends at “the Cape”. The most memorable being Bert, Jim, Kathryn, Jeanette, Earl, Eileen, and Pete. In 2017, Pat and John moved in with their daughter and son-in-law. Before Covid, Pat had one beginner piano student.

Pat passed peacefully the morning of November 21, 2023, while holding hands with her daughter. Pat is eternally grateful to her son-in-law, Luke, for being the caregiver for she and John and sharing their daughter’s time with them since they moved back to St. Louis.

Pat is descended from the Kincaid clan in Scotland, the Reverend Richard Denton (attributed to founding the first Presbyterian church in the US around 1630 on Long Island), King Richard III of England, and perhaps William Clark the American explorer. Her grandfather William R Kincaid was the city Marshall of Kiowa, Kansas. He escorted Carry A. Nation outside the Kiowa city limits after her first saloon rampage in Kiowa for the Temperance movement.

She is preceded in death by her son, JF. Pat is survived by her husband John Wickey, her daughter Janet and son-in-law Luke and numerous other family members and friends. Pat’s spirit will live on in all who knew, learned from, and loved her.

In lieu of flowers or in Pat’s memory, please donate to the CCMTA. A celebration of Pat’s life will be held at a later date. If interested in donating to CCMTA or attending her celebration of life, please contact Janet at janetlwickey@outlook.com for more information.