'prophet' Had A Message For All

Illawarra Mercury

Saturday March 3, 2007

By WILLIAM VERITY

MOURNERS spilled out of St Michael's Church in Thirroul yesterday to celebrate the life of one of the northern suburbs' most recognised characters.

Father Lawrence McCarthy described Mark Hickson as "a prophet" whose life carried a strong message for all of us to reach out to those who lived on the edge of society.

Mr Hickson, 39, had lived with schizophrenia since his late teenage years and was found dead in the early hours of Tuesday morning. He was buried in Scarborough Cemetery.

He was a deeply religious man who attended Mass in Thirroul and Wollongong on a daily basis, who would deliver his Christian message to anyone who would listen, and who walked the streets wearing a large wooden cross around his neck.

"It seemed to me that Mark carried one of the heavy burdens that Christ talked about," Fr McCarthy said, his voice breaking at times with emotion.

"His mind was a little disturbed, but he was not crazy.

"On one level, he was healthy and robust, walking quickly about the place."

The dead man's twin brother, Roderick, gave a short eulogy and was the first to take the Eucharist.

"To me, he was a tremendous man of courage that not many of us would ever care to burden ourselves with," Roderick said, calling him "one of God's champions".

The twin brothers were part of a well-known Thirroul family of eight children - five of them adopted - raised by GP Dr John Hickson and his wife, Noelene.

Dr Hickson died in 1999, and was followed less than two years later by his wife of 50 years.

Lifeline offers a 24-hour telephone counselling service for anyone, anytime. Call 131 114.IN a report on the funeral of Mark Hickson which appeared on Saturday, the Mercury misquoted his brother, Roderick. Instead of "he was a tremendous man of courage that not many of us would care to burden ourselves with", the correct quote was "this was a tremendous amount of courage that ...". The Mercury apologises for the error.