Funeral services for Dr. John Dudley Hicks Jr., 79, of Greenville, will be at 11 a.m. Friday at First Baptist Church, Greenville. He died Monday, March 16, 2015, at The Heartford House, Owensboro, Ky., with family by his side. Burial will be at Greenville Cemetery under the direction of Boone Funeral Home, Greenville.
Hicks was born Aug. 18, 1935, in Florence County, S.C. He received his bachelor’s degree in agronomy from Clemson University and graduated as a 2nd Lt. Army. He served in the Army Reserve for 17 years and retired as a major. Hicks furthered his education by receiving his master’s in Agronomy and doctorate in Soybean Breeding and Genetics from North Carolina State University. He was a soybean breeder and was awarded 16 patents for his soybean varieties. He also served on the Soybean Advisory Committee for Mississippi State University.
He was preceded in death by his parents, John Dudley Hicks and Mary Evelyn McAlister Hicks; his first wife, Dixie Whittington Hicks; and two sisters, Billie Geneva Poole and Mary Louise Hicks.
He is survived by his wife, Carolyn Clements Hicks of Greenville; a daughter, Julia (Chet) Hicks Wiman, of Owensboro, Ky.; a son, Steven (Sherrie) McAlister Hicks, of Germantown, Tenn.; a stepdaughter, Valerie (Ted) Clements Smith, of Greenville; a stepson, Timothy (Liz) Allen Clements, of Greenville; a sister, Betsy (Peter) Hicks West, of Bluefield, Va.; two brothers-in-law, Bobby Poole, of Brazil, and Jeff C. Whittington, of N. Myrtle Beach, S.C.; 11 grandchildren, Drew McAlister Hicks, John Thomas Hicks, and William Jackson Hicks, all of Germantown, Tenn., Lucas Alan Wiman, Whittington Carr Wiman, and Mary Wesley Wiman, all of Owensboro, Ky., Chaille Elizabeth Clements, Matthew Allen Clements, and John Christian Eugene Clements, all of Greenville, Joshua (Brittany) Edward Smith and Kimberly Taylor Smith, both of Greenville.
Visitation will be from 10-11 a.m. Friday at the church. Memorials may be made to First Baptist Church, 407 Main St., Greenville.