Elmer Donaldson Hickman

Coushatta, LA - A funeral service celebrating the life of Reverend Elmer Donaldson Hickman, 89, will be held at 10:00 AM, Friday, July 9, 2021, at Kilpatrick's Rose-Neath Funeral Home Coushatta chapel with Dr. Billy Bates officiating and assisted by Reverend Wayne DesLattes. Interment will follow in Old Ridge Cemetery in Castor, LA. The family will receive friends from 5:00 PM until 8:00 PM, Thursday, July 8, 2021, at the funeral home. Reverend Hickman was born on July 10, 1931, in Castor, LA to Brantley Leon and Lula Capetolia (Camp) Hickman and passed away July 5, 2021, in Natchitoches, LA. During his lifetime, he was affiliated with the United Pentecostal Church, VFW, and the American Legion. He loved to serve His Lord and Savior and play bluegrass music. He was also a skilled carpenter. For over fifty years he served as a pastor to many Pentecostal churches. During his military service, he earned the Purple Heart. As a combat engineer in the United States Army, he served in the Korean War. In South Korea his unit built bridges and roadways for the troops, and destroyed them afterward to prevent enemy pursuit. One morning, four of the Russian tanks used by North Korea somehow made it to their encampment. In the ensuing battle three were destroyed, but one escaped. Hours later it returned, and in this last fight Reverend Hickman's eye was wounded by shrapnel from the tank's blast. Even after this, the enemy bombarded the aid station where Reverend Hickman and seven others were recovering. Under his captain's orders, Reverend Hickman was given a painkiller and the men managed to escape. Though he lost his eye, he earned the Purple Heart for his valor. Reverend Hickman was preceded in death by his parents; siblings, Vallie Vastie Williams, LaDell Carroll Morgan, Euna Capetolia Cane, Grace E. Bell, Lora Mae Hickman, Ressie Jurischk, Florence Inez Colston, Willie Drew Hickman, Prentice Albert Hickman, Brently Gillian Hickman, and John Shelby Hickman; and his first wife, Ella Mae Hickman. Left to cherish his memory are his wife, Faye Self Hickman, two nephews, and one niece. Honoring Reverend Hickman as pallbearers will be Dr. Wyche Coleman, Ellis Hickman, Ray Horton, Bruce Koch, and Sonny Neal.