Joseph Bolton Hick ’55

Joseph Bolton Hick ’55, M.D., died March 1, after a lifetime of service to his country and to the medical profession. Joe came from Delta, Colorado, and at Dartmouth majored in premed. He wanted to follow his father into a career in medicine. After his sophomore year Joe left Dartmouth to enroll in the Army’s officer candidate school. He completed his active duty as a first lieutenant in 1956 and returned home to finish his undergraduate education at Western State College of Colorado. While remaining in the Army Reserve, Joe graduated from the University of Colorado Medical School. He joined his father as the third generation of his family to practice medicine in Delta. Joe married Patricia on New Year’s Day, 1975. Two years later he returned to active duty as a colonel in the Army. His assignments included working as corps surgeon for V Corps in Frankfurt, Germany; deputy commander of the 121st Evacuation Hospital in South Korea; and commander of U.S. Army Medical Department Activity at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. He earned the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal and the Order of Military Medical Merit. He was also a fellow in the American Academy of Family Physicians. After retirement from the Army Joe served as medical director of the Midlands Center of the Department of Disabilities and Special Needs in Columbus, South Carolina. Joe’s wife predeceased him in 2008; he is survived by children John, Cliff, Kim and Lesli; and grandchildren Zachary, Logan, Bolton, Shawn, Kylie, Rachel, Bennett and Lydia.