A funeral mass for John Harden Hicks II will be held Tuesday, November 24, at 11 a.m. at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, located in College Station at 2541 Earl Rudder Freeway.
There will be a Rosary and visitation on Monday, November 23, from 4-7 p.m. at Hillier Funeral Home in Bryan, located at 2301 East 29th Street.
Donations may be made on behalf of John Harden for cancer research to:
Lisa McCoy
Assistant Director of Donor Relations
Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers
6701 Fannin, CCC 1510.16
Houston, Texas 77030
(832) 822-4725
Bryan Broadcasting offices will be closed Tuesday between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Original story:
A young member of the Bryan Broadcasting family lost his battle with cancer early Thursday morning.
John Harden Hicks II, son of Bryan Broadcasting owner and president Bill Hicks, was first diagnosed in April 2012 when a brain tumor nearly one and a half times the size of a golf ball was discovered.
Even during his fight with cancer, John Harden played golf for Bryan High School. His coach, Ron Newhouse, said Hicks, a junior on the Vikings squad, was an inspiration to everyone.
“Always positive. Always with a sense of humor. He really made it special for us to have him around. Even though he was handicapped, he was still able to play at a level that was about as good as he could do, and that was really something that made it special for us,” said Newhouse.
Click below to hear comments from Ron Newhouse visiting with WTAW’s Chelsea Reber.
According to Bryan ISD athletics director Lance Angel, the Vikings football team will honor John Harden during their post season run with a decal on the player’s helmets.
The host of WTAW’s The Infomaniacs, Scott DeLucia, paid tribute to John Harden and the Hicks family on the air this morning.
“Well, I’m not sure how many of you out there are people who are listening who have had a member of their family or maybe even themselves who have dealt with cancer.
Those who beat cancer celebrate it every day. But sometimes that battle is lost.
That happened earlier this morning when we lost a member of the Bryan Broadcasting family to cancer.
John Harden Hicks II, the 16 year old son of Bill and Paula Hicks who own Bryan Broadcasting, passed away a few hours ago.
John Harden had suffered third degree burns in a backyard grill explosion in 2011 in which he was life flighted to Galveston where he received four skin grafts.
And he was still recovering from that when the cancer was discovered. Eight months later after that burn accident, a brain tumor was removed.
He was battling cancer at 13. Those are numbers that you don’t hear very often.
Bill often called John Harden his hero. And there is little wonder why.
He has siblings who survive him. They are Will and Andrew and Tim and Tucker and Mary Madeline.
If you know the Hicks’s, I would ask that in any way that you feel comfortable that if you would lend them your support and let them know that you are there for them.
I’m reminded of the words of the author Wendy Mass. “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle that you know nothing about.”
John Harden Hicks II was 16 years old.”
Click below to hear comments from WTAW’s Scott DeLucia remembering John Harden Hicks II.
111915 Scott DeLucia remembers John Harden Hicks II
Chip Howard, the host of Sportstalk on Sportsradio 1150 and The Zone 102.7 FM, also paid tribute Thursday.
“It is has been a difficult battle as you might suspect.
It’s a difficult day to be on the air to do this show. Sports doesn’t mean a lot today as the result of what our family is dealing with.
And certainly our sympathies and prayers go out to Bill and Paula and his brothers Andrew, Will, Tim, and Tucker and his sister Mary Madeline.
As I mentioned, words just aren’t adequate to express our grief today.”
Click below to hear Chip Howard’s remembrance of John Harden Hicks II:
