Ron Hickey

Ron graduated from Norwin in 1966, and entered Indiana University of Pennsylvania, majoring in music.

While at IUP, Ron played trombone in various music ensembles. He formed a music group called the Hickeybones – a trombone sextet plus rhythm that specialized in jazz and pop music, featuring Ron’s music arrangements. After graduating in 1970, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education, Ron enlisted in The United States Army Band in Washington, D.C., as a staff arranger.

During his twenty years with The Band, Ron wrote several hundred arrangements for the organization’s many ensembles. His arrangements were featured on numerous recordings and were performed at the White House and other official ceremonies and concerts in Washington and throughout the United States. He also served as anthems coordinator and supervised the recording of all the national anthems of the world, which were provided by The Band to the Olympic Games in 1984 and 1988.

Early in his Army career, Ron became interested in computers and soon found himself in charge of The Band’s first computer system. Ron developed a database for cataloging The Band’s music.

Ron retired from the Army as a Master Sergeant in 1990 and took a position as a computer specialist with the District of Columbia Pretrial Services Agency in Washington, D.C. Ron developed a software program to track defendants and their samples for the Agency’s drug testing laboratory. This system enabled the Pretrial Services Agency to be one of the pioneers in criminal justice drug testing and be recognized as the foremost Pretrial Services Agency in the United States. Ron became Director of the Agency’s Office of Information Technology in 1996. Under his leadership, all of the Agency’s business processes were supported by computer automation. Ron retired from Pretrial Services in 2015.

Ron resides with his wife Lydia in Crossville, Tennessee. He is a technophile, sports fan (loves the Steelers and Penguins) and Car Guy; he and Lydia enjoy traveling the United States in their motorhome.