Marita Lee Hickey, age 76, a resident of Vero Beach, FL and New Canaan, CT, died Wednesday morning September 23, 2015 at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Born in New York City on December 14, 1938, she was the daughter of the late Chester and Marie (Schneider) Meisel. Marita was married to her loving husband, Thomas J. Hickey, Jr., for 56 years. Marita played an integral role in her husband's 35-year career at Sports Illustrated and enjoyed travel, volunteering, and the occassional game of golf. But, Marita's greatest joy in life was raising her four girls and being "nanny" to her 9 grandchildren. A warm smile, a quick wit, a generous and caring spirit, and a great sense of style helped forge many lifelong friendships who join her family in mourning this loss. Marita's strong Catholic faith has been a constant in her life and brought her comfort and peace over these last few weeks. In addition to her husband, Marita is survived by four daughters, Brianne Yontz and her husband Mark of Richmond Hill, GA; Christine Hickey and her husband Timothy Grosskopf of Darien, CT; Kelly Crawford and her husband Scott of Stowe, VT; and Kathy Rudden of Norwalk, CT. Nine grandchildren: Barbara, Jillian, Madeline, Julia, Claire, Mac, Hannah, Thomas, and Kevin also survive. A Mass of Christian burial will be held on Monday September 28, 2015 at 11:00 am at St. Aloysius Church, 21 Cherry Street, New Canaan, CT 06840. Interment will be private. The family will receive friends on Sunday September 27 from 1- 4pm at the Hoyt Funeral Home, 199 Main St, New Canaan, CT. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to either: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (in memory of Marita Hickey in memo of check) Cycle for Survival 633 3rd Avenue, 28th Floor New York, NY 10017 http://mskcc.convio.net/goto/MaritaHickey The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (in the name of Mac Crawford) 120 Wall Street New York, NY 10005-4001 WWW.JDRF.Org For online condolences and directions visit www.hoytfuneralhome.com