Obituary of Grace Brown Hicks

HicksGrace Grace Brown Hicks Mrs. Grace Brown Hicks, of Fayetteville, NC, died peacefully on Saturday, December 16, 2006, with her family at her bedside. In August 2006 she and her family had celebrated the 63rd anniversary of her marriage to Mason Hicks and the 84th anniversary of her birth. Grace Brown was born in Buckhannon, WV, the third child of Stanley and Stella Brown, on August 7, 1922. In 1933 she and Mason Hicks, also of Buckhannon, began their 74 year romance. Grace was a 1939 graduate of Buckhannon-Upshur High School, where she was an outstanding student and musician. In 1943 she earned a degree in education from West Virginia Wesleyan College, where she twice served as class secretary, was a member of the a capella choir and the college trio, Sigma Delta Chi social sorority and Sigma Alpha Sigma academic sorority, and was president of Wesleyan’s band and orchestra. Also in 1943 she and Mason, then a cadet in the Army Air Corps, were married. An excellent teacher and a versatile musician, Grace founded the kindergarten at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church of Fayetteville in 1959, taught there for many years, and directed the church’s Children’s Choir. Subsequently she became the first kindergarten teacher in North Carolina’s public schools, teaching in Fayetteville until her retirement in 1990. Her two grandchildren, life with Mason, music, the beauty of spring and occasional travel to North Carolina’s beaches and West Virginia mountains were the great joys of her later years. Grace is survived by her husband, Mason Spiller Hicks of Fayetteville; daughters, Jan Engel Hicks of Rocky Mount, NC and Baylor Hicks of San Francisco; son, Daniel Mason Hicks of Fayetteville; sister, Judith O’Donnell of Buckhannon; brothers, Jerome Brown of Buckhannon and Kenneth Brown of Clarksville, GA; granddaughter, Mary Grace Hicks of Greensboro, NC; and grandson, Jacob Mason Hicks of Lillington, NC. She was preceded in death by her parents and by two of her sisters, LeEllen Best of Buckhannon and Edith Rae Evans of Fairmont. A memorial service was held in Fayetteville on December 21 at Highland Presbyterian Church with Dr. Ernie Johnson officiating. Family and friends are welcome to a commemoration of her life and interment of her remains, to be conducted by the family at Heavner Cemetery in Buckhannon on August 7, 2007 at 10:00 AM. In lieu of flowers, donations in her name may be made to Nature Conservancy North Carolina, 4705 University Drive, Durham, NC 27707. Indicate “Grace Hicks” on a note line; a memorial fund in her name has been established, with all donations to be used for the purchase an d preservation of land in North Carolina. Online condolences may be made to the family at www.polingstclair.com. Poling-St. Clair Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements. Graveside Memorial Service Tuesday, August 7, 2007 at 10 AM Heavner Cemetery