Cecil B. Hicks, son of the late George Hicks and Trannie Ingle Hicks, was born on February 28, 1931 in Double Springs, Alabama and departed this life on September 16, 2015 at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Missouri at the age of 84.

Mr. Hicks had worked as a farm equipment mechanic and was a veteran of the United States Navy.  He was a member of the Essex-Gray Ridge Lions Club and a resident of Essex.  Mr. Hicks enjoyed hunting and fishing.  One of his greatest joys was spending time with his grandchildren.

On December 24, 1954, he was united in marriage to Oleta Stumbaugh in Yuma, Arizona.  Mrs. Hicks survives of the home. 

In addition to his wife, he is survived by one son, Keith Hicks and his wife Evelyn of Essex, Missouri; by one daughter, Sheryll Page of Cape Girardeau, Missouri; by four brothers, Ed Hicks of Advance, Missouri. Bobby Hicks of Essex, Missouri, Dee Wayne Hicks of Jackson, Missouri and Lamar Hicks of Kansas City, Missouri; by five grandchildren, Nick Cozby, Katie Cozby, Ryan Hicks, Ashley Hicks and Luke Patrick; and by four great-grandchildren, Lily Cozby, Ryker Cozby, Finn Patrick and Hulson Daugherty.

Besides his parents, he was preceded in death by two brothers, William Hicks and Billy Hicks; and by four sisters, Jewell Ramsey, Lois Richards, Lorene Fulgham and Gertrude Hicks. 

A graveside service will be conducted at the Missouri State Veterans Cemetery in Bloomfield on Friday, September 18, 2015 at 1:00 P.M. with James Malloy and Ronnie Ledbetter officiating. 

Interment will follow in the Missouri State Veterans Cemetery. 

The family requests that memorials be made to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, P. O. Box 1000, Dept. 142, Memphis, Tennessee 38101-9908 or the Stoddard County Children’s Home Memorial Tribute Fund, P. O. Box 164, Dexter, Missouri. 

Arrangements are under the direction of the Rainey-Mathis Funeral Home in Dexter.