Lester Raymond Hicks (1942-2022)

HICKS

Posted By: Ken Wright (email)
Date: 6/19/2022 at 20:56:34

On December 22, 2020, Lester Hicks passed away after a lengthy battle against kidney failure. He passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loved ones. Family and friends are invited to his celebration of life at 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 25, 2022, at Stewart Baxter Funeral & Memorial Services, Cedar Rapids, by Celebrant Dawn Stephens. Inurnment and military honors will be at 11 a.m. on Monday, June 27, 2022, at Czech National Cemetery, Cedar Rapids.

Lester Raymond Hicks was born on the family farm in Gray, Iowa on September 10, 1942. The son of Gladys and Howard Hicks and named after his grandfather's and father's middle names. Lester grew up in and around Perry, Iowa, helping out on family and friend's farms.

Truly a renaissance man, Lester was in military intelligence with the US Army Security Agency, serving in several countries overseas and earning a Silver Star Medal. After the Army, Lester excelled in varied occupations from carpentry, farming, truck driving, electronic piano and organ repair, grocery store management, and in 1990 earning, with honors, an Associate’s degree from Kirkwood Community College in Computer Science. He worked as a computer programmer and analyst with the Freedom Group until his retirement. Perhaps his greatest achievements though were that of loving husband to Ellen and father to Jenny and Matt.

Other survivors include his siblings, Jim, Shirley, Carolyn, Iola, Bruce, and Barry; and sister-in-law, Julie. He was preceded in death by sisters, Winona and Brenda.

Lester enjoyed telling good jokes (and an occasional bad one), fishing, building wooden model wagons from scratch, and spending time with friends and family. A friend to all, the world lost a bright spot with Lester's passing, but he will forever live on in our hearts!