SEATTLE, Washington (KING) - George Hickman, a Tuskegee airman and longtime and respected usher at University of Washington and Seahawks games, has died.

Hickman was 88-years-old.

Hickman was one of the last living Tuskegee Airmen, the first black pilots to fly for the U.S. military during World War II.

Doris Hickman was drawn to her husband's character when they first met.  "He was just a wonderful man," Doris Hickman said Monday of her husband.

He moved to Seattle in 1955 to work for Boeing as a B-52 engineering training instructor and executive in the aerospace division, according to the News Tribune. He retired in 1984.

Fans grew to know Hickman in the stands at UW football, basketball, softball and soccer games, eventually joining the Seahawks staff as well.

Last season, Hickman raised the "12th Man Flag" at a Seahawks game.

He attended the inauguration of President Barack Obama in 2009 and received the Congressional Gold Medal with other Tuskegee Airmen in 2007.