Chapter 430

 fondly remembers

Sharyn

Hicks

2009

Sharyn Patricia (Dennis) Hicks

December 3, 1936 – April 18, 2010.

Sharyn was born December 3^rd, 1936 in Aberdeen So. Dakota to Quinn ad Bette Dennis, and considered herself a Lutheran Christian from conception. She was immediately baptized.  They moved to Huron So. Dakota which became home town to Sharyn. She grew up among horses and many dogs, and a younger brother Philip Dennis, loving them all. She graduated from Huron High School in 1954 and attended Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Indiana earning a BA Degree with emphasis on Religion and Philosophy. Being a musician she sang and played her cello in High School and College. After graduating in 1958 Sharyn moved to Chicago where she met her husband to be Robert (Bob) Hicks. They were married in Huron, So. Dakota May 29^th, 1960 and would have been married 50 years on May 29^th 2010.

Sharyn and Bob lived in Lyndhurst, New Jersey until a job move took them to Needham, MA in 1961 where their son Christopher was born. Another job move placed them in Cincinnati, OH in 1963 where in 1966 they adopted an infant daughter, Sarah. Sharyn continued her love of singing through the choir of Redeemer Lutheran Church. Another job move placed Sharyn in Bellevue, WA in summer 1971 where she and her family were members of Pilgrim Lutheran Church. Through the choir there she became a founding member of the Seattle Area Lutheran Chorale. In 1976 her husband’s job moved her to El Toro, CA where they joined Abiding Savior Lutheran Church & School. Sharyn was led to join the Saddleback Concert Chorale singing a wide repertoire. She became a founding member of The Festival Singers, a local chorale singing “Bach to Broadway”! Through this musical activity Sharyn had the good fortune to sing in such places as Carnegie Hall, San Diego Opera House, Disneyland, Mark Taper Forum, and Anaheim Stadium. But her favorite was always praising The Lord in the Church Choir!

Although she had a significant education Sharyn chose to be a home maker until the kids were old enough for her to work while they were in school. This led her to become a school bus driver in the local California school district. She loved it, and particularly in later years driving the Special Education Needs kids. She did earn a Paralegal Certificate at University of California, Irvine, and tried a law office for 6 months, but went back to her beloved “Special Ed” kids.

In 1996 Sharyn felt the Lord call her to be a volunteer missionary teacher teaching conversational English to Chinese English teachers. With about 90 others she went to China and was assigned to a school in Yongan, Fujian Province. For 3 summer months she and three others taught spoken English to teachers who had never heard it spoken correctly. Sharyn used her singing talents by teaching her class to sing “Zippity – Doo- Dah” to help speak “Zee” words, difficult for Chinese speakers, and when asked about her Faith she always answered them, rules or no rules!!

  In Port Angeles Sharyn has been a faithful member of St. Matthew Lutheran Church, serving in the Choir and Altar Guild. N the community she had been a volunteer at Healthy Families of Clallam County, and sang in various choirs and choruses, most recently the Grand Olympic Chorus of Sweet Adeline’s.

Sharyn is survived by Robert her beloved husband of almost 50 years, her son Christopher and his wife Lynn, and his mother-in-law Joan Rae, all of Temecula, CA; her adopted daughter Sarah and her children, addresses unknown; her granddaughter Danielle Hicks, a freshman at Southern Oregon University, Ashland, OR. Her niece, Jodie McClure and her family, Keystone, So. Dakota; brother Philip Dennis in New Mexico; cousins Joyce Jennings Rogers, Bellingham, WA, Mary Jennings Ramzy, Jacksboro, TX, James Jennings, Amarillo, TX, Loretta Jennings Fortner, Wentz MO,  and Wilma Jennings Burton, Springfield, MO.