Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 8, 1994 TAG: 9402080238
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LYNCHBURG LENGTH: Medium
OBIT RICKMAN, WILLIAM VILLINES
RICKMAN, William Villines, 86, of Westminister-Canterbury in Lynchburg, a
retired C & P Telephone Company manager, died Monday February 7, 1994 at
Virginia Baptist Hospital. Mr. Rickman was a resident of Danville for 30 years
until 1983. He was born May 7, 1907 in Covington, Virginia, and was the sone
of the Rev. William Riley Rickman, a Baptist minister, and Martha Gadys Hall
Rickman. He attended Carson-Newman College and Duke University. Mr. Rickman
began his telephone career in 1936 in the C & P Telephone Company Directory
Advertising Department, in which he rose to become Sales Manager for the State
of Virginia in 1940. He went to Salem as Telephone Company Manager in 1949.
Subsequently, he was the Company's manager in Danville for 20 years, from 1953
to 1972, when he retired with 36 years of service. Mr. Rickman's active
participation in a wide variety of civic and community activities in Salem and
Danville included service as president of all the following organizations:
Danville Industrial Development Corporation, Danville Kiwanis Club, United
Fund of Greater Danville, Danville Chamber of Commerce, and the Danville
Historical Society. He was a past Chairman of the Salem-Roanoke County and
Danville Chapters of the American Red Cross. He was a Kiwanian for over 44
years, and was a former Lieutenant Governor, Second Division, Capital
District, Kiwanis International. He was a life member of the Veterans of
Foreign Wars, the Telephone Pioneers of America, and the Disabled American
Veterans. He served as an elder in the First Presbyterian Church of Danville,
was a current member of the First Presbyterian Church in Lynchburg, and a
Mason for over 60 years, with current membership in the Roman Eagle Lodge No.
122. other memberships included the German Club of Danville, the Virginia
Historical Society, the Sons of Confederate Veterans, and the Young Mens Club
of Danville. He belonged to the Society of the Cincinnati in the State of
Virginia (third great grandson of Dr. William Rickman, Director of Hospitals
in Virginia and Colonel during the Revolutionary War). Mr. Rickman, who was
active in politics, served as legislative aide for Delegate Calvin W. Fowler
from 1973 to 1981, was chairman of the Democratic Committee in Danville from
1974 to 1978, and served as a delegate to the Silver-Haired Legislature from
the City of Lynchburg in 1985 and 1987 sessions of the General Assembly. Prior
to World War II, Mr. Rickman served on active duty with the U.S. Marine Corps.
During World War II he served with U.S. Army. Also, during World War II, he
served with the U.S. Navy Seabees in the Southwest Pacific in New Guinea and
the Philippine Islands, where he sustained an injury at Subic Bay, and was
honorably discharged in August 1945. Mr. Rickman was predeceased in 1981 by
his wife of 35 years, Catherine Ogden Rickman, formerly of Knoxville, Tenn., a
World War II Red Cross social worker in Australia, New Guinea and the
Philippine Islands, and former Librarian of Stratford College (Danville, Va.)
for 15 years until 1974. The Rickmans'traveled extensively, visiting 47
foreign countries. Mr. Rickman is survived by a daughter, Catherine Robinson
Rickman, of Port Townsend, Washington; three sisters, Mrs. Paul L. Dent,
Louisville, Ky., Mrs. Alfred S. Winston, Heathville, Va., and Mrs. Hurst Owen,
Jr., Raleigh, N.C.; and six nieces. A memorial service will be held a
Westminister-Canterbury on Wednesday, February 9, 1994 at 10 a.m. and
graveside services will be held at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, at 3 p.m.
with the Rev. James G. Thompson officiating. The cremains will be interred in
the Rickman Family Plot, Hollywood Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial
gifts may be made to the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History, or the
Hollywood Memorial Association, South Laurel Street, Richmond, Va. 23220.
Diuguid Funeral Chapel in charge of arrangements.
by CNB