Ann Marie Hicks, Catholic educator, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and community activist, passed away Thursday, Nov 17, 2022 from Alheizmer’s disease.
“Her faith was her life and her life was her faith,” said her friends. Mrs. Hicks served over 40 years in many leadership roles at the Annandale Christian Community for Action (ACCA), which provides emergency social services for low income families. She was also active with St. Anthony’s R.C. Church, where she served on the school board, and as a Eucharistic minister.
An alumnus of Misericordia and George Mason Universities, Mrs. Hicks taught biology at Bishop O’Connell High School from 1991 to 2003, where she was also Chair of the science department.
She was born Ann Marie Wysocki, in Plains, Pennsylvania, on April 22, 1943.
In 1965, she said “Yes!” to a marriage proposal from Norman Lee Hicks, after dating him for only three weeks. Their marriage lasted 56 years.
In 1967, her young husband Norman received a job offer to work in development with USAID. He asked her if she was willing to relocate to Ghana. She said, “Yes! Where is it?”
She went on to teach in West Africa, and became one of the founding teachers at The Lincoln School, which is still thriving today.
She is survived by her husband, Norman Hicks, her daughters Lee Ann (Bruce) MacNeil and Mary Beth (Carlos) Holloway, her two sons, Sander and Kenneth Hicks, and eight grand-children.
“The Holy Spirit has always been a part of my life,” Ann Marie told Misericordia University in 2015, when she was honored as keynote speaker at the annual Convocation Ceremony.
She advised the incoming freshmen, "I can tell you, if you look for a way to respond to those in need, you will find the secret to a happy life.”
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