Our beloved brother, Jack Rush Hicks Sr., passed away on Sunday morning at Community Hospice in Vidalia after a short illness.
    Jack was born May 12, 1931, in Bibb County, Ga. After spending his childhood in Georgia, his family relocated to Mississippi, where he spent his formative years and graduated from Pascagoula, Miss., High School in 1950.
    He went on to serve in the military for two years during the Korean War, followed by studies at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.
    Jack married his high school sweetheart, Janice Nelson Hicks, in 1954. He and Janice moved to Statesboro, Georgia, in 1969, where they raised a family and ran their own business, Hicks Office Supply.
    Their storybook romance lasted 43 years until Janice lost her battle with pancreatic cancer in 1997. A year later, Jack moved to Cobbtown, where he married Dottie Bailey and spent the next 21 years in another amazing marriage.
    Jack would often happily confess how big of a blessing it was to have spent so many years with two equally wonderful women of faith.
    He loved working with his hands and could fix or build anything imaginable. When presented with a problem, he wouldn’t rest until he found a solution.
    He was also an avid golfer who continued to shoot his age well into his 80s.
    Jack was also named as Happy Jack by his friends due to the upbeat and optimistic way he lived.
    He loved to sing and praise the Lord and always enjoyed leading others in praising his God with a grateful heart.
    Jack was preceded in death by his wife, Janice Nelson Hicks; parents, Coleman and Carrie Hicks; and a sister, Dorothy Hicks Parker.
    Surviving are his wife, Dottie Baily Hicks, of 21 years; his daughter, Margaret Hicks; and his son, Jack Rush Hicks Jr.; a stepson, Derek Bailey; and a stepdaughter, Shandra Montague; and six grandchildren, Lewis William Hook, Thomas Colby Hook, Jack Hicks III, Chesire Rigler, Brynna Bailey and Brooke Bailey; and many nieces, nephews and cousins.
    The memorial service will be held Wednesday, October 23, 2019, at 11 o’clock in the morning at Cobbtown United Methodist Church.
    The family will receive friends from 9:30 a.m. until the funeral hour at the church on Wednesday.
    Remembrances may be made to Community Hospice, P.O. Box 2277, Vidalia GA 30474.
    Guestbook: www.kennedyfuneralhomechapels.com.
    Kennedy Funeral Homes, Cobbtown Chapel, is in charge of the arrangements.

Statesboro Herald, October 22, 2019
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