By Mike Kruzman / news@whmi.com


New life-saving devices have been purchased in honor of the former, well-known captain of the Howell Area Fire Department that recently passed away.

Captain Jay Hickman passed away last month. He spent 55 years as a firefighter, coming to the Howell Area Fire Department in 1994. He remained with the team until his retirement in 2020. In lieu of flowers after his passing, his family, which includes his wife DuAnne, and their daughters Jill, Jeradee, Jennifer, and Jayne asked that money instead be donated to the department.

The community came through with such kindness, that the department was able to take the donations and purchase 2 new automated external defibrillators, or AEDs. When they made the order for the devices with Coro Medical, Hickman’s grandson, who works with the company, looked at the donated amount and raised the order to 3 in memory of Jay.

The Howell Fire Department said over social media that though Jay may no longer be with us, he has once again shown how dedicated he was to helping the greater good of the community. They wrote that “thank you” does not even begin to come close to the gratitude the department wishes to express to the Hickman family, those that made donations in Jay’s name, his grandson and his company, and course, Hickman himself.