Diane Tickell

Diane Tickell was born on April 11, 1918 in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. She grew up on the East Coast and earned a Bachelor of Arts from Smith College in 1939. After graduation she worked for the Red Cross in Boston for a time, before moving to Alaska in 1944 after her marriage. There, she raised her children while also working as a social worker for the state.

After her husband’s death in 1968, Tickell attended Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1970, while still studying at ETS, Tickell joined a student protest of the invasion of Cambodia. She was arrested and later said of it, “If you want to radicalize somebody, put them in jail for the night.” She graduated with her Master of Divinity in 1973 and was ordained a deacon that same year. On September 7, 1975, she was ordained a priest at the Church of St. Stephen and the Incarnation in Washington D.C., as a member of the “Washington 4,” joining the Philadelphia 11 as the first ordained women of The Episcopal Church.

In 1979, Tickell became the Priest-in-Charge at St. George’s Church in Cordova, Alaska, and served there until her retirement in 1990. She’s remembered for reopening the Red Dragon Clubhouse, the building that originally served as Cordova’s community center, library, and church on its construction in 1908, for the recreational use of those working in the fisheries and canneries during the summer season. Of her ministry, Tickell said, “I can’t image anything more interesting than to be a priest. When you get in there and really are a part of people’s lives at times of joy, and times of sorrow and tragedy, you discover the fullness of priesthood.”

Diane Tickell died on April 24, 2002, in Auke Bay, Alaska.