For­mer Bea­con Ed­i­tor Passes Away at 93

BLUE IS­LAND, Ill.--Grad­u­at­ing from Bethel Col­lege in 1951, Bar­bara Bickel spent her time on cam­pus study­ing Eng­lish, was the ed­i­tor in chief of the Bethel Bea­con, and was a part of the Am­bas­sadors Club, Ra­dio Club, Eng­lish Club, and the Al­pha Lit­er­ary.  

Bickel was the youngest of 8 chil­dren. And, in her 93 years of life, she en­joyed read­ing, writ­ing po­etry, au­to­mo­biles, and car­ing for an­i­mals.  

On June 28, 1958, Bar­bara Ellen Rohrer mar­ried Her­bert Carter Bickel, and they moved to Blue Is­land, Illi­nois. To­gether, the cou­ple raised their daugh­ter, Deanna Lynn Bickel.  

Bar­bara and Her­bert Bickel were mem­bers of the Mount Green­wood Church of Nazarene, and, later, The Blue Is­land Church of Nazarene. From those churches, they made friend­ships that lasted a life­time.  

The cou­ple were also among the found­ing par­ents who worked to cre­ate The Blue Cap School for the Dis­abled in 1963. Af­ter found­ing the school, they con­tin­ued to show their sup­port through­out their lives.  

Her­bert Bickel passed away De­cem­ber 14, 1998 in Blue Is­land, Ill. 

She had been a res­i­dent of Sym­phony of Crest­wood for five years be­fore pass­ing away on Feb­ru­ary 22, 2021.