P. Joseph Hickey passed away April 5th, 2026, at Cumberland Crossing Manor in Pittsburgh, PA. Born on March 12, 1926, in Beeville, Texas as Pennell Grove Kennard, he was the third of four children of Mary and Pennell Kennard. His mother died of TB when he was 5. It was the Great Depression, so circumstances resulted in him and two of his siblings, Mary and Edward, being adopted by their aunt, Estelle, and her husband, Thomas Hickey, a captain in the US Army and a WWI veteran. At the time of his adoption, his name changed to Pennell Joseph Hickey. He lived the typical life of an Army “brat” moving from post to post around the United States. However, the moves became more frequent as the Army was mobilized in preparation for WWII requiring him to attend 7 high schools in six different states. It was in one of these schools that he convinced teachers to ignore the name Pennell and “just call me Joe”. From that point on, the name Pennell only showed up in legal documents. After 3 years of high school, he received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY. Graduating in 1949, Joe was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Infantry branch of the US Army. He served 26 years before retiring in 1975 with the rank of colonel. Among Joe’s many assignments: service as an infantry platoon leader during the Korean War, 3 years as a company commander in Germany, 2 tours of duty in Vietnam with the latter as a battalion commander in the 4th Infantry Division. He also served as a professor for 3 years in the Department of Military Psychology and Leadership at West Point. He was a training brigade commander at Fort Leanord Wood, MO. He served at the Pentagon twice, once in the Office of Research and Development, once in the Office of the Chief of Staff of the Army, followed by duty as Chief of the Infantry Branch. Among Joe’s many awards and decorations were the Silver Star, the Distinguish Flying Cross, the Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Bronze Star for Valor with oak leaf cluster, the Purple Heart, 5 Medals of the Army Commendation Ribbon, the Combat Infantryman’s Badge with stars, and US and Vietnamese jump wings. He was a graduate of the Infantry Basic and Advanced courses, the Command and General Staff School, and the Army War College. He also earned a master’s degree in industrial relations from Purdue University. Upon retirement from the Army, Joe worked for almost 20 years at the Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh conducting management programs for businessmen from around the world. His programs were often filled with Korean executives that treated him with great respect and honor for his service in their country.

Joe first met his future wife, Peggyanne Carlon of Richmond, VA, when she was thirteen and married her when she was sixteen. As he was eight years her senior, she claimed he awakened her life-long interest in collecting antiques. They were married for over 67 years before her death in 2018. He is survived by his 4 children; Peggy (David) Chiarella of Savannah, GA; Estelle Varner, Mike Hickey, and Margaret Menges all living in the Pittsburgh area. He was a grandparent to Jexx (Amy), A.J. (Jeanice), Kevin (Jessica), and Sam (Karla), great-grandparent to Ron, Zephaniah, Hadley and Brayden and the favorite uncle to 16 living nephews and nieces and many great nephews and nieces from the Keenan, Hickey and Haas families. Many of these family members from around the world had recently gathered to celebrate and honor Joe on his 100th birthday. He was preceded in death by his wife Peggyanne, his parents, Lt. Gen. and Mrs. Thomas F. Hickey, his brother, Edward S. Hickey, and his sisters Mary C. Hickey Keenan and Beatrice Kennard.

A devoted Catholic, he was a member of St. Mary’s of the Assumption Church on Middle Road in Glenshaw, PA until 2015 when he moved to help care for his wife. He attended daily Mass most of his life with his priorities in life being God, family and country. Visitation will be held at Kyper Funeral Home, 2702 Mt. Royal Blvd, Glenshaw, PA 15116, on Monday, April 13th, 2026 from 4-8 pm and a mass will be held at St. Mary of the Assumption Church - Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, 2510 Middle Rd, Glenshaw, PA 15116, on­­­­ Tuesday, April 14th, 2026 at 10:30 am. He will be buried with his wife, Peg, at Arlington National Cemetery.