Nannette Crane Wickham
5/11/1912 - 2/26/2010
Services for Mrs. Nannette Crane Wickham, 97, of Austin, formerly of Kilgore will be two p.m. Friday, March 5, 2010, at the First Presbyterian Church of Kilgore with the Reverend Larry Tyler officiating. Burial will follow in Kilgore Cemetery. Mrs. Wickham died Friday, February 26, 2010, in Austin, Texas.
She was born May 11, 1912, Kilgore, Texas to Dr. James Bennett Crane and Lucy Ethridge Brown Crane. Dr. Crane was the only Physician in Kilgore until the East Texas Oil Boom. He was idolized by Nannette and known to her as “Papa.” Nannette was a fifth generation Texan who was raised with her three sisters and two brothers.
Nannette loved the adventure of school and her favorite past time was reading. Schoolwork was expected to be completed at first by the light of kerosene lamps, then by gasoline lamps, and finally by electricity, when Kilgore had its own electrical power generator. She attended Kilgore Public Schools and Henderson High School. Mrs. Wickham graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1928 from Texas Women’s University earning baccalaureate degrees in Math and Chemistry.
Nannette's intent was to continue on to medical school and then join Papa’s practice, but the Great Depression did not permit. Then the East Texas oil boom arrived in Kilgore. The town changed literally over a weekend. Dr. Crane built Crane Memorial Hospital to accommodate the accident victims that arrived regularly from the fields. Nannette worked at the hospital as the Hospital administrator.
On November 9, 1935 Nannette Hodges Crane married an Oklahoma Sooner, in the living room of her parents home, named William Kenneth Wickham. Mrs. Wickham was a loving, caring mother in whose home Classical music was highly valued, discussed, and performed. Nannette played the piano and violin.
The Wickham’s owned and operated Wickham Packing Company and after the death of Mr. Wickham, Nannette took an active role in the management of that business. Nannette later worked in the Superintendent’s office of the Kilgore Independent School District.
A Christian atmosphere permeated the Wickham’s home. Nannette’s parents were members of the First Presbyterian Church of Kilgore before her birth and she had been a member of the church literally all of her life.
Nannette was named First Lady of Kilgore, 1960. She was a founder of the Kilgore Public Library and a founding member of the Paul Dinkins Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Mrs. Wickham was a member of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, National Society of Colonial Dames, Kilgore Garden Club, Kilgore Professional Women’s Club and a past PTA President of Kilgore High School.
She is survived by her son, Ken Wickham, Jr. and his wife, Bev of Austin, Texas; two grandsons, Kenneth Wickham, III and his wife, Tami of Montgomery, Texas and Christopher Wickham of Austin; two great-grandsons, James Christopher Wickham and Evan Stockton Wickham; several nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, husband and siblings.
The family will receive friends at Rader Funeral of Kilgore, Thursday evening between four and six p.m.
Memorial contributions may First Presbyterian Church, Post Office Box 1216, Kilgore, Texas 75663
Please leave online condolences at www.Raderfuneralhome.com
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