Lois Hicks, 90, of Murfreesboro passed away in a local hospital on Monday, March 10, 2025. She was born on September 15, 1934, in Arbuckle, California, where her parents farmed among almond groves and a vibrant ranch community. She was the middle child in a close-knit and loving family that enjoyed exploring scenic rivers, coastal redwood forests, and marine estuaries. Early in her school years, the family suffered a crushing blow when her young mother died of hemorrhaging after an operation for a bleeding ulcer.
At age 9, Lois and her sister and brother went to live with their maternal grandmother in the Napa Valley, where they could attend a large Adventist school through college. She was a bright and cooperative student, earning high marks and participating enthusiastically as a drummer in the marching band.
After graduating from Pacific Union College in 1957, Lois worked for four years as a secretary in the education department of the Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists in Glendale. She then worked for a physicians’ group in Corona before moving to Connecticut to help raise her brother’s two young children. While there, she fell in love with a sailor at the US Navy’s submarine base in Groton. They married in 1965, and she worked at Ledyard High School until her own child was born. Just before their son turned 2, her husband received an assignment as a diver aboard the USS Grayback, stationed in central California. Their daughter was born in Southern California, the summer after his unit deployed for assignments in the Pacific.
Around Christmas of 1969, Lois relocated the family to San Diego, where her husband was stationed at the submarine base. In 1972, she went back to work at Paradise Valley Hospital as a secretary in the purchasing department so her kids could make friends at the nursery school at the end of their street. They lived there until 1974, when her husband retired from the Navy and found work in Louisiana, where he was a diving supervisor on offshore oil rigs and later joined a company that specialized in salvage and recovery.
After her children graduated from high school, Lois moved to middle Tennessee, and both her son and daughter graduated from MTSU. She worked as the administrative assistant for the treasurer of NHC for more than 25 years. She was an active member of her local Seventh-day Adventist church, first in Murfreesboro and then in Woodbury. She taught the kindergarten or primary Sabbath School class for decades and also served for many years as treasurer for the Woodbury SDA Church and its private school.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Olive and George Pratt; her sister, Olive I. Pratt; her husband, Henry L. Hicks III; their infant son, Brian Hicks; and a grandson, Joshua Hicks.
She is survived by her younger brother, James Pratt Sr.; her son, Henry L. Hicks IV (Debbie) of Collegedale, Tenn.; her daughter, Brenda Hicks Kruger (Warren) of Murfreesboro; her grandson, Andrew Hicks of Collegedale; and many beloved nieces and nephews.
Visitation with the family will be Friday, March 14, 2025 from 3:00-5:00 PM at Woodfin Memorial Chapel. Memorial service will begin at 5:00 PM.
