CSW Mourns Loss of Holly Hickler

The Cambridge School of Weston is mourning the loss of longtime former faculty Holly Hickler, who died Sunday, July 10 after a brief illness. She was 89.
The Cambridge School of Weston is mourning the loss of longtime former faculty Holly Hickler, who died Sunday, July 10 after a brief illness. She was 89.

Born Helen Schloss, but better known as “Holly” to her family, colleagues, and friends, Ms. Hickler was a respected teacher and colleague at the school for 30 years. She arrived in 1968 as a part-time English teacher, and throughout her decades here, she helped organize and supervise the college counseling program at CSW.

“Holly had great gifts as a teacher – imagination and empathy, and a great gift for bringing out in her students a passion for literature, for writing, for self-examination and self-expression, for life itself,” Warren Carberg, former English faculty wrote to CSW in her memory.

As a teacher, she was remembered as loving and kind, and one who was constantly striving to become a better at her craft. In an early evaluation of herself, she wrote that “the best teacher is always growing and remains perpetually self-critical.”

Ms. Hickler’s roots ran deep at CSW. She was not only a longtime faculty member, but sent four of her five children here. Her numerous nephews and nieces attended CSW, as well as members of her extended family. Her husband’s brother Roger Hickler ’43, was an alumnus, and her husband’s sister Alorie Parkhill, was a former assistant head of school, English teacher, and a trustee at CSW.

She was also a published writer, with numerous articles in the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Boston Globe newspapers, as well as Glamour, Ladies Home Journal, Redbook, McCall’s and other magazines. She also authored creative and expository writing workbooks, as well as the non-fiction book, Vivienne: The Life and Suicide of an Adolescent Girl.

Her husband of 60 years, Frederick Dunlap Hickler, died in February. She is survived by her children, Peter White, Katherine White ’66, Mark Hickler ’69, Lisa Hickler ’72, Frederick Hickler ’78, and their partners; her six grandchildren; her two great-grandchildren; and many members of her extended family.

A memorial for Ms. Hickler is planned for the fall.

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CSW—a gender-inclusive day and boarding school for grades 9-12—is a national leader in progressive education. We live out our values of inquiry-based learning, student agency, and embracing diverse perspectives in every aspect of our student experience. Young people come to CSW to learn how to learn and then put what they learn into action—essential skills they carry into their futures as doers, makers, innovators, leaders, and exceptional humans who do meaningful work in the world.