Bessie Louis Fickel

Bessie Louis Fickel, also known as Bessie or Bess, 84, of Amarillo, TX left this life in the company of her Savior to join her heavenly family on July 17, 2025

Funeral services will be at 10:30 AM (CST), Thursday, July 24, 2025 at Pleasant Valley Baptist Church, 555 E. Hastings Ave. Interment will be at 2:00 PM (MST) in San Jon Cemetery in San Jon, NM. Arrangements are by Boxwell Brothers Funeral Directors.

Bessie Louis was born April 9, 1941 in Tucumcari, New Mexico to Max and Cleda Fickel. Except for the years of World War II, when Bessie Louis and her mother, lived in San Diego California while her father was in the US Navy, they lived in and around Tucumcari, including Mesa Rica where her father worked in the building of Conchas Dam. After the war, they returned to the Tucumcari area in 1946. Bessie Louis learned to read by the light of a coal oil lamp when she accompanied her mother, who taught eight grades in a one-room schoolhouse in Montoya, New Mexico. In 1947 they moved to Wheatland, New Mexico where Bessie Louis began school. They remained there for the next four years where, along with her cousins and other Wheatland children, her mother was their teacher in a three-room schoolhouse with four grades to each room. They moved to Carlsbad, New Mexico in 1951 where Bessie Louis completed her education and graduated Salutatorian in her class of over 300 from Carlsbad High School in 1959.

Bessie Louis attended Eastern New Mexico University in Portales, New Mexico. She earned her degree of Bachelor of Business Administration, Summa Cum Laude in 1964. She was subsequently selected to receive a Fulbright Scholarship for study at the University of France at the Sorbonne in Paris and at the University of France in Bordeaux, France. She returned to the United States in 1965 and taught as a substitute teacher in Carlsbad, New Mexico until she gained employment with Southern Union Gas Company, where she worked in the Marketing Department until 1968.

In 1968, Bessie Louis joined the United States Air Force. She completed Officer Training School at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas and was commissioned as Second Lieutenant in December 1968. After attending Intelligence Officer School in Denver, Colorado, she served her first tour of duty at Tan Son Nhut Air Force Base, outside Saigon, South Vietnam. For her service there, she was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Valor device. Her future assignments took her to England, Germany, Hawaii, and Washington DC. While serving in England and Germany, she was privileged to visit all countries in Europe except Turkey. While stationed in Hawaii, she went to Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand, in duty and/or vacation status. While stationed in Germany, she earned her Master of Arts degree from Ball State University. Bessie Louis retired in October 1993 at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel with twenty-five years of service. In addition to the Bronze Star Medal with Valor device and other decorations, she was awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Meritorious Service Medal, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Valor device with four oak leaf clusters, the National Defense Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster, the Vietnam Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters, the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with device, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal as well as five other medals, ribbons and awards with various numbers of oak leaf cluster.

Bessie Louis lived in Alexandria, Virginia after her retirement.

After losing her mother who lived with her in 2008, and after losing her last pet in 2013, she moved to Amarillo, Texas in 2014 to be closer to family. Blessed with many pets of the canine persuasion, she never met an animal she didn't love, but most especially dogs. In Amarillo, she volunteered at the Amarillo Zoo for 3 1/2 years. She truly loved animals and supported many animal sanctuary and rescue charities.

She was a member of Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in Amarillo and actively participated in many church activities. She genuinely cherished her church as evidenced through her service not only to the church but to her much-loved church family.

Bessie Louis also loved to travel and in addition to visiting Europe, Asia and the Pacific, she visited forty-nine states, Canada, and Mexico during her lifetime.

Bessie Louis was preceded in death by her father in 1970 and her mother in 2008. She is survived by many cousins in Amarillo and the Panhandle of Texas as well as New Mexico, Arizona, and Arkansas.

In lieu of flowers, Bessie Louis would have preferred donations in her memory to your favorite charities or to Pleasant Valley Baptist Church.