Phil Pickens

News Obituary Article

Phil Pickens, 60, clicked with electronics, disabled children

By HOLLY CRENSHAW

Computers, cellphones, BlackBerries --- Phil Pickens always wanted to be the first to grab one.

Gadgets were his favorite playthings, but half the time he ended up using them as lifelines to a job that was hard to turn off.

"Phil was constantly getting calls," said his former wife, Kathleen Pickens of Stone Mountain. "A lot of times, parents would have concerns about their local system or maybe with something that happened to their child in school.

"And if they were upset, Phil would try to find out what happened and tell the parent which way to go or let a local office know it wasn't doing what needed to be done."

In 2000, Mr. Pickens became director of the division of exceptional students at the Georgia Department of Education, culminating a career devoted to children with disabilities and behavioral problems.

Phillip H. Pickens, 60, formerly of Stone Mountain, died in a car accident in Montgomery on Saturday. The funeral is 11 a.m. today at A.S. Turner and Sons.

He moved to Montgomery in 2004 after retiring from his Georgia education post and took a part-time job in special education.

The Atlanta native's first teaching job in 1968 in Hancock County sparked his concern for students with special needs. He earned a master's degree in special education from West Georgia College and joined the state's education department in 1978.

On site visits around the state, Ms. Pickens said, "You could see that tender side of him come out really quickly around a child. They needed an advocate, and he was a wonderful advocate for them."

He pushed to create a statewide parent mentor program to help them navigate the system. He worked vigorously to keep as many students as possible in regular classroom settings.

His successor, Marlene Bryar of Marietta, said, "Phil started out working with children with severe emotional and behavioral disturbances, and he was convinced that with the right supports in place, children can achieve great results."

His laid-back management style and sensitive listening skills, Mrs. Bryar said, made him a deft mediator between parents who felt they weren't getting the services they should and the school systems struggling to provide them.

"One of the things people would tease Phil about," Ms. Pickens said, "is that instead of telling you what to do and how to do it, he'd say, 'Have you ever thought about doing it this way?'

"He kind of went around the back door to make these significant changes."

Survivors include two daughters, Erin Erdman of Tucker and Meredith Thigpen of Flowery Branch; two sons, Chris Pickens of Orlando and Phillip Pickens of Stone Mountain; his parents, Howard and Gladys Pickens of Clarksville; two brothers, Danny Pickens of Buford and Doug Pickens of Cumming; a sister, Gail Hayden of Clarksville; and four grandchildren.

© 2006 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution