Friends of Jean Hickey throw dance party for longtime teacher
BUTLER TWP — Jean Hickey may not have a dance partner — she didn’t even really take up dancing until after her husband died in 1996 — but the crowd in the Tanglewood Center in Butler Township on Monday, Aug. 11, proved that it isn’t an issue. She has dozens of dance partners, which she amassed over years of helping new dancers at line dancing sessions at the Tanglewood Center.
Despite befriending numerous people who regularly attend the line dancing sessions at the Tanglewood Center, Hickey was still shocked when a few dozen of them surprised her with a birthday cake Monday, just a few days before her 97th birthday.
After getting hugs from everyone, eating lunch and birthday cake, and hearing a speech from a longtime colleague, Hickey got to do what she went to the center to do Monday — line dance.
Even in her late-90s, Hickey said she isn’t tired of dancing — it energizes her. It was an especially nice session Monday, because everyone wanted to dance next to her.
“After my husband died in 1996, I took up dancing,” she said. “I decided on line dancing because you didn’t need a partner to do it.
“When the girls come in, I stand beside them and help them out.”
Surrounding Hickey that afternoon were a number of other dance fanatics, mostly women, several of whom have found themselves single, for one reason or another.
Pamela Karenbauer met Hickey about 13 years ago, when she began dancing at the Tanglewood Center. She said she felt compelled to help organize a birthday celebration for Hickey because she has made an impact on so many people who have stepped the floors of not only the Tanglewood Center, but other dance halls in the Butler area.
“She dances at the Meridian Vets Club and the American Legion, too,” Karenbauer said. “I love her. She’s an inspiration.”
Line dancing has been a mainstay at the Tanglewood Center for years, and its sessions now are at noon every Monday. Karenbauer said you don’t have to be a dancer to come — most of the regulars are happy to demonstrate.
On Monday, Aug. 11, Diana McRoberts stood at the front of the room and yelled out the dance steps before starting each song. She has been line dancing since shortly after her husband died in 2006, and said she learned everything she knows from Hickey.
McRoberts said the line dancing sessions are good for anyone to attend, because the dances can all be done solo, but in a group. She said many people, herself included, have found community in line dancing at the Tanglewood Center.
“All these ladies who don’t have a husband — they’re widowed, divorced, single — they can get up and dance,” McRoberts said. “That’s the purpose is being able to get up and dance without a partner.”
Although Monday was a special occasion, the line dancing still went off the same way it always does, albeit, the group danced to many of Hickey’s favorite songs. McRoberts announced what song was about to play, showed off the steps and then led the group through the entire tune.
According to McRoberts, the steps she demonstrates are just a guideline for each song.
“In line dancing you get up, and … have a good time,” McRoberts said. “I tell them if they don’t know the steps, just keep moving.”
A lot of the songs played Monday were “oldies,” which Hickey and some of the dancers have known for ages. They included “Mustang Sally,” by Wilson Pickett, and “How It Is (To be Loved by You),” by Marvin Gaye.
Hickey mouthed the words to several of the songs as they played, stepping along to the beat as some other women sang out loud. Karenbauer said she has always been impressed by Hickey’s stepping talent, and her willingness to help out dancers new and old alike.
“She retains all the steps,” Karenbauer said. “When we get stuck, she comes and helps us remember.
“She is a ringleader.”
Karenbauer also said Hickey was one of the people who brought line dancing to the Tanglewood Center, and she is the last living member of its framers.
At Hickey’s birthday lunch Monday, McRoberts told the story of the first time she met Hickey, which was at the first dance class she ever attended. She was struck immediately by Hickey’s dance skills. It was shortly after her husband died, so McRoberts was emotional about entering the dance floor.
“I went to the dance and this lady said, ‘Go back to this table, these ladies will take care of you.’ And that’s the beginning,” McRoberts said, adding that Hickey and two other women helped her stop crying. “I started to go for months and months and I love these ladies.”
McRoberts concluded her speech by describing Hickey’s personality and her impact on many of the people present at the lunch.
“She’s kind, compassionate, helpful, gentle, warm and hopeful,” McRoberts said. “She’s also very creative, she’s romantic in a way, she’s humorous, and she brings joy to everyone.”
After the initial surprise of seeing her friends — on and off the dance floor — all gathered in the Tanglewood Center to celebrate her birthday, Hickey made her way around the room to hug everyone. People like Lynette Rossi and Edyie Potts, both longtime dancers, greeted Hickey with an “I love you.”
Potts also said that Hickey has made her Mondays more enjoyable, because while dancing has become her “retirement activity,” it has also become one of her main avenues for socializing.
“We all come here to have fun,” Potts said.
But it’s more than fun to some of the dancers on the floor. The weekly dance sessions have been so welcoming and enjoyable that Ben Crawford, of Butler, credits it with bringing him back from his lowest point.
Crawford, who sat out during some of the line dance songs because he prefers the “Texas two-step,” said the dance sessions helped him find joy in life again.
“This class literally saved my life after my wife died,” Crawford said. “I don’t feel broken or hurt anymore.”
Crawford jokingly refers to Hickey as his fiancé, and said she was one of the most deserving people to have a birthday party the size of the one she had Monday. He regularly attends the dance sessions at the American Legion and the Meridian Veterans Club on other days of the week with Hickey, but said the group at the Tanglewood seemed to be one of the most tight-knit.
“I want to make this the happiest part of her life,” Crawford said of Hickey. “This is the loveliest group to dance with.”
