Wayland Keith Hicks, Jr., was seven days short of 93 years old when he passed away on Friday, January 27, 2023, in Marcus, Iowa.
Memorial services will be held on Saturday, February 18, 2023, at 10:30 a.m. at the Memorial Presbyterian Church in Cherokee, Iowa. Pastor Larry Ostercamp will officiate. Military rites will be performed by the Cherokee American Legion and L.A. Wescott Post #2253. Public visitation will be on Friday, February 17, 2023, from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. with the family present from 5-7:00 p.m. at the Boothby Funeral Home in Cherokee, Iowa. Online condolences may be left at www.boothbyfuneral.com.
Wayland, known within the family as “Poco”, was born February 3, 1930, in the Gorgas Hospital, Ancon, Panama Canal Zone, to U.S. Navy Lt. J.G. Wayland Keith Hicks and his wife, Esther Gertrude Dyke Hicks. In 1931, his father resigned his Navy commission, and the family relocated to Iowa City, Iowa. The family relocated again in 1934 and moved to Sioux City, Iowa, where Wayland’s father established a medical practice.
Wayland attended Hunt Elementary School, North Junior High School, and graduated with honors from Central High School in the June class of 1947. He attended Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, and then transferred to the University of Iowa. Following a tour of duty with the Army during the Korean War, he returned to the University of Iowa and obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering.
He was employed by the United States Gypsum Co. at their production facility in Fort Dodge, Iowa , and later in that company’s corporate headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. In 1959, he partnered with Tom Grundman to purchase the assets of the Osterling Construction Co. of Cherokee, and form the Grundman-Hicks Construction Co.
On July 2, 1961, Wayland married Donna Marie Clayton in the First Methodist Church in Sioux City. This union was blessed with one son, Dyke Hicks, now an engineer and consultant residing in Ames, Iowa.
Aside from his business interests, Wayland enjoyed genealogy, gardening, and reading. His computerized genealogy program includes several thousand extended family members and ancestors, the earliest proven of the latter being James Smallwood, a paternal 7th great grandfather, who was born in England in 1639, arrived in Maryland in 1664, and died in Charles County, Maryland, in 1714.
With the guidance and help of his wife, Donna, a Master Gardener, Wayland slowly developed their home’s landscaping which eventually came to include over 300 varieties of perennial plants and shrubs. He was also instrumental in planning and installing the cart paths and watering systems on the Cherokee Country Club golf course.
His extensive home library is concentrated in modern classics and American history.
Wayland is survived by his wife, Donna; one son, Dyke Hicks, and his wife, Cindy, of Ames, Iowa; two Team Hicks members, Shieann Flores and Damian Carter, both of Ames; two granddaughters, Dr. Audra Stallard, of Tacoma, Washington, and Kristen Stallard, of Richmond, Virginia; a brother, Forrest Hicks, and his wife, Sydney, of Dallas, Texas; a sister-in-law, Karen Sacasky, and her husband, Bob, of Amhurst, Virginia; and a brother-in-law, David Clayton, and his wife, Carol, of Mason City, Iowa; nieces and nephews; Barbara Swanson, Robert Hicks, Nancy Stone, and Alexander Hicks.
He was preceded in death by his parents, brother, Jerry Hicks, Jerry’s wife, Joan Hicks, and niece Kathy Barrick.
Wayland will be interred in a family plot in the West Lawn Cemetery in Orange City, Iowa, where also rest his maternal great-great grandparents, Arie Niemantsverdreit, and his wife, Ingetje; his great-grandparents, Cornelius Maris and his wife, Gertrui; his grandparents, Charles Libbe Dyke, and his wife, Gertrude; and his parents.
The family requests memorials be made in Wayland’s name to Cherokee Regional Hospice, Heartland Memorial Fund, Memorial Presbyterian Church Foundation, Cherokee Fire Department, and Marcus Fire Department.
