Daily Light’s ‘Gentle Giant’ remembered

John Hicks: July 10, 1967-Feb. 24, 2006
From Sunday's WDL

Neal White
Editor/Publisher

Words cannot begin to describe the loss we all are feeling at the passing of Daily Light Sports Editor John Hicks.
John’s sudden death on Friday at the age of 38 has left us all in a state of shock and overwhelming sadness. He leaves behind a family including two young children, Connor, 10, and Shelby, 7, scores of co-workers who loved him as a brother and thousands of fans in the Ellis County community.
He was loved and respected by everyone he met.
For both his physical stature and gentle, giving nature, John was a giant among men.
He was devoted to his children, dedicated to his work and genuinely cared about everyone he wrote about. From the smallest rec league players to the high school and college athletes, in his eyes and in his heart, all the kids he covered were “his kids” and he took great pride in reporting their accomplishments.
For the past several weeks, John often talked about the Lady Indians’ current playoff run and his desire to cover the team in the state championship game. He longed to see the team hold up the state trophy — he even had headlines written and ideas on how we could design the front page.
John so loved the students he wrote about in the Daily Light and talked about on the radio as a guest commentator with Ken Roberts at KBEC.
His dedication to his craft and passion for those he covered was evident in his work. An award-winning journalist, John has received numerous awards for his work, including the Texas “Sports Writer of the Year” honors from his peers in the newspaper industry. Throughout his tenure at the Daily Light, John consistently ranked among the top three sports writers in the state for newspapers in our division, having earned more than a dozen awards for excellence in journalism.
Standing six-feet, eight-inches tall, John cast a commanding presence, yet because of his humble, compassionate nature, he had a way of making every-one feel at ease. He was indeed a gentle giant. Through both his words and deeds, John left everyone with the impression his towering figure was always striving to reach up to Heaven and touch the hand of God.
“Everybody loved John,” said Ken Roberts, KBEC vice president as we spoke to him following Friday’s Lady Indians playoff game. “He was the nicest, most gentle man you’d ever want to meet.
“After all these years of covering games together, John would still come up to me the press box and ask if it was OK if he sat beside us. Even though we always saved him a seat, he never took anything for granted,” Roberts said. “I can’t tell you how hard it was to call (Friday’s) game with that empty seat beside me.
“John was one heck of a sports writer,” Roberts added “We loved having him on the show. He knew the stats and he always looked for the positives, always finding something good to say about the players and the coaches. Everyone at KBEC extends our heartfelt condolences to his family and everyone at the Daily Light.”
Several WHS coaches have called to share similar comments, extending their condolences and praising John’s work over the years.
It needs to be said that John was more than a co-worker — he was like a brother to us all. As difficult as this is for our Daily Light family, our hearts and prayers go out to his immediate family as we share in their grief over John’s unexpected passing. May we all find comfort in knowing that John died peacefully in his slumber as God reached down to take his hand and bring him home to the Kingdom of Heaven.
We spoke to John’s parents in Shreveport, La., who are in the process of handling the arrangements. As details of the service arrangements become available, we will share that information with the community.
Without question, John touched so many lives in such a short time.
He made a difference in every aspect of his life.
Godspeed, Big John.
You will be missed.