Mary Ann Hicks

Mary Ann (Reser) Hicks, daughter of the late Velan Alexander and Clora (Newberry) Reser, was born on December 22, 1925 in Ava, Missouri, and departed this life on October 11, 2014 in the Kabul Nursing Home in Cabool, Missouri. She was 88 years, 9 months and 19 days of age.

She grew up in the Ava-Mansfield area, living through the years of the Great Depression as a child. She told her children happenings of this time as she remembered them. While living in the Ava area, Mary met Delmer Joel Hicks. They were married on August 7, 1941, in Macomb, Missouri. Eight children were born to this union: Leroy, Lela, Lonnie, Lowell, Lena, Loren, Lyle, and Leslie. They lived in the Mountain Grove and Norwood, Missouri areas during this time.

Mary was a hard worker, canning big gardens and blackberries in the spring and summer to help Delmer feed the family through the cold winter months. She sewed clothes for the family and she knew how to cook big meals. Logging, woodcutting, and milking cows were the way they made a living.

Mary and Delmer moved to Exeter, California in June of 1965, where they lived for several years except for a short stay in Missouri in 1968; they returned to California in 1969. Delmer passed away in California, November of 1979. Mary then began working at a dress shop in Exeter doing alterations, and later began to help manage the store. She had sewn and made clothes for her family all through the years, and her cooking was a blessing from the Lord.

Mary moved back to Mountain Grove, Missouri in March of 1987. She loved working and living for the Lord, even going on a missionary trip to Old Mexico. She played her guitar in church with Delmer in California, and continued to do so in revivals and church services until the time of her sickness in June of this year. She was a giving person and enjoyed making quilts, and embroidering dish towels and pillow cases, which most she gave away as gifts to her family and anyone she felt the Lord would have her give them to. She loved her family and friends.

Besides her parents Mary was preceded in death by her precious husband: Delmer Hicks; infant son: Lonnie Hicks; daughter in-law: Karen; four brothers: Bill, Buck, Red and Jessie Orville; seven sisters: Thelma, Mattie, Ruth, Ruby, Dorthy, Iva, and Reba; four-grandsons: Sam, David, TJ and baby Marty; one infant granddaughter: Tina Louise; and one infant great-granddaughter: Casey June.

Mary is survived by her children: Leroy and his wife, Delores, of Manes, Missouri, Lela and her husband, Dean, of Manes, Missouri, Lowell of Exeter, California, Lena and husband, James, of Mountain Grove, Missouri, Loren and wife, Nancy, of Houston, Missouri, Lyle of Mountain Grove, Missouri, and Les and his wife, Ivy, of Lebanon, Missouri; brother in-law: Bob Clemens of California; many grandchildren; great grandchildren; great-great grandchildren; nephews; nieces; and lots of family and friends who will miss her so much.


Visitation: Wednesday, October 15, 2014 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM at Craig-Hurtt Funeral Home.

Funeral Service: Thursday, October 16, 2014 at 10:00 AM at Craig-Hurtt Funeral Home.

Burial: Hillcrest Cemetery.

Memorial Contributions: Hicks Family Memorial in c/o the funeral home.