Tamae Hickling, of Newtown Pennsylvania, died peacefully on Friday, December 7, 2018 at home with her family by her side. She lived a long and full life of 84 years.

Born in Kamakura, Japan, she was the daughter of the late Masaho and Sumiko Hara Kuratomi. She was the beloved wife of 57 years to the late Derek R. Hickling and devoted mom to Ronald Hickling and Leslie Hickling Zoto.

Tamae was a 1952 graduate of Fukuoka Chuo High School in Japan. She worked as a typist at Ashiya Air Force Base where she met Derek in church. The couple was married in Abashiri, Japan where Ronald was born and briefly moved back to Philadelphia where Leslie was born. The family moved back to Japan until 1972 when they relocated to S. California and lived there until retirement. In 1998, they moved to Newtown to be closer to their daughter and her family.

With a vibrant personality, she inspired her family in many ways. Her children and grandchildren were always her priority and she was proud to pass her Japanese heritage on to them. Having lived through war, moving to a new country, learning a new language and culture, she became independent and self-reliant, even learning how to drive.

Tamae enjoyed reading, gardening and cooking, especially for others. She was always young at heart and exercised daily to Korean Pop, in particular a boy band named BTS. She loved animals, especially her dogs and her parrot, Petey.

Tamae will be greatly missed by her children, Ronald and his wife, Mary Hickling and Leslie Zoto; her grandchildren, Alyssa and Quintin Zoto, and Nathan Hickling; her brothers Michiho and Hisamaru Kuratomi; her sisters, Kishiko Yokose, Hamako Ohnaka and Mihoko Okumura and many other extended family in Japan and the U.S.,her close friends ;Yuko and Dave Love, Utsumi Sepich, Noriko Hensler, Nick and Marge Zoto, and her special neighbors at Country Bend, especially Jeff and Darlene Buck. She is also survived by her cherished parrot, Petey, who now resides with her daughter.

Her family will receive relatives and friends on Thursday, December 20, 2018 from 11:00 AM until her Funeral Service, 11:45AM at the Joseph A. Fluehr, III Funeral Home 800 Newtown Richboro Rd. (at Holland Rd.) Richboro, PA 18954. Her interment will be at 1:30PM in Washington Crossing National Cemetery, Newtown.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Tamae’s memory to the Bucks County SPCA, PO Box 277, Lahaska, PA 18931 or to the American Cancer Society, PO Box 22478, Oklahoma City, OK 73123.