Louise Margaret Bentle Hickman was born January 31, 1925 in Dallas, TX and passed from this life on February 27, 2024 in Grand Prairie, TX.

Louise was a woman ahead of her time. She was strong and independent forging her way in the male dominated field of carpentry. Alongside her husband Lester, they built several houses from the ground up. Buying multiple properties, they became real estate moguls if only in their chosen hometown of Cedar Hill, Texas. Working hard and building houses never stopped her from keeping her nails painted, lipstick on, and hair curled.

She was never one to sit still or too shy to offer her opinion or instruction in some instances. Growing up in Ovilla, Texas with her family that were sharecroppers, she and her siblings learned about farming and how to enjoy the simple things in life. Always extremely close with her family, for too many years to count she would attend daily breakfasts with her siblings and friends, attending church weekly and her infamous nightly phone calls with her sisters to watch Wheel of Fortune. She loved to work in the garden to the point in her later years where her mobility was difficult, she would sit on her walker and work in her garden or pick up pecans. It was that attitude that found her working on the roof of a house when she was pregnant with her first child Patsy, her mama and papa told her to get down before she had the baby on the roof. She did as she was told but got right back on the roof to work as soon as they were out of sight. If you knew Louise and was asked how she spent her life, the answer would be caring for and laughing with her family, devoted to being by her husband, Lester's side, and spoiling her children and grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Charles Lester Hickman; her son, Charles Lester Hickman, Jr.; her parents, Walter Roy Bentle and Tildy Bentle; her brothers, Frank Bentle and Dewey Bentle; her sisters, Maudell Bentle, Edna Haddox, Ruby Roark, and Melba Weaver; and her granddaughter, Cheryl Ann Elliott.

Louise is survived by her daughter, Patsy Ann Hickman; her son, Roy Allen Hickman and wife, Elaine; 7 grandchildren; 6 great-grandchildren; 4 great-great-grandchildren; and 1 great-great-great-grandchild.

Family will receive friends from 11:00am to 12:00pm on Friday, March 8, 2024 at Byrum Funeral Home Chapel with a celebration of Louise's life beginning at 12:00pm.