Obituary

Memorial services will be at 10 a.m. today in First Baptist Church. Military burial will be at 2:30 p.m. in Hale Center Cemetery by Holley Funeral Home.

Lonnis Orville Hicks passed on peacefully surrounded by his wife and family. He was born Oct. 13, 1920, in Mansfield to Lonnis and Mattie Hicks. As a young man, he served his country during World War II for four years in the Army Air Corps, piloting a B-24 for 42 missions in 376th Bomber Group H, 514th Squadron H, 15th Air Force. On his 42nd mission, Dec. 6, 1944, his plane was shot down over Yugoslavia and he was taken prisoner by the Nazis. This experience fostered a lifelong passion for patriotism and freedom. He was liberated on April 29, 1945, and returned to the United States to marry the great love of his life, Janelle Ivey.

His interests were varied, but family always came first. He served as a 4-H leader for his children while the family lived on a ranch near Walsenburg, Colo., in the 1950s. He also coached Babe Ruth baseball teams in Canyon, first while his son was a member of the team, but he continued for several years and also served as baseball league commissioner. And by example, her instilled a sense of integrity in all his children.

Orville loved sports, having excelled in football and track at Hale Center High School and golf later in life. But his abiding interest was in horses and their training. He was a champion calf roper and trained award-winning cutting horses. At heart, he was a genuine cowboy through and through. Orville was also a talented watercolorist whose many paintings were focused on Western themes.

His diverse career lead him through ranching and horse training, as well as serving as a Canyon police officer, a rural mail carrier and finally a guard at the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum.

Orville was a member of First Baptist Church in Canyon. He served as a commander of the Texas Panhandle Chapter of Ex-Prisoners of War and was a member of the Order of the Purple Heart and the Caterpillar Club. He was also a Master Mason with the Lemond Lodge No. 832 in Hale Center.

Survivors include his wife of 62 years, Janelle Ivey Hicks; three daughters, Nancy Hicks Walker of Houston, Melissa Hicks Pittman of Amarillo and Amanda Jean Evans of Canyon; a son, Stanley Jeff Hicks of Sammamish, Wash.; a sister, Oleta Hicks Nicholson; and numerous nieces and nephews. He took great joy in his six grandsons, Martin Evans, Jeff Hicks, Judson Walker, Daniel Evans, Kyle Pittman and Schuyler Pittman; as well as three great-grandsons, Tyler Evans, Bryce Evans and Cayden Evans; and four great-granddaughters, Kaillen Evans, Stephanie Evans, Kayla Hicks and London Walker.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials be to the building fund, First Baptist Church, 1717 Fourth Ave., Canyon, TX 79015; or the American Heart Association, 6605 W. Interstate 40, Suite A-6, Amarillo, TX 79106.

Amarillo Globe-News, Nov. 13, 2007