After a long struggle with cancer, my friend John S. Hicks, Esq., passed away this morning with his beloved wife Judy and his friends the Sweetons and Whalens at his hospice bedside.
John passed at approximately 10:00 a.m.
I mourn his passing and grieve for Judy, their children, John's entire extended family and all his many, many friends; all of us will miss him terribly.
John was my mentor as well as my friend. He took me seriously. I respected him and loved him. I wouldn't say he was a father figure to me, but rather an elder brother figure... perhaps a trusted uncle figure.
As a political force here in Orange County and throughout New York State, John taught me many lessons and introduced me to many people. While Chairman of the Orange County New York Republican Party, John took my marketing/branding outreach ideas and ran with them, creating the Orange Country Republican Eagle with myself and the publication's first editor, Republican Committee Member Rich Cocchiara, and later appointing me Mr. Cocchiara's successor - even though I was not (nor had I ever been) an actual "member" of the Orange Country New York Republican Committee.
John introduced me to the likes of George Pataki and Rudy Giuliani. John sat me by his side when he hosted a Committee function attended by then-State Committee Chairman "Sandy" Treadwall.
My friend John Hicks never took himself too seriously... no... but he took me seriously and thus so did others.
I remember one period when all hell had broken loose politically and John was going head to head with one of our own State senators. I was in Boston... it was a Friday late afternoon... I had just arrived for a weekend get-together with friends and had stopped to meet one particular friend at John Harvard's for a drink. In between rounds I called home to let Mary know I had arrived safely and she somewhat breathlessly told me that "the Governor's office" had called and that they "needed" me to call them back right away.
Well...
I called the number. One of Pataki's aides answered. I knew the name. It turned out that he was calling to badmouth John and try to get me to publicly support the State senator in question.
My response? Well... I'm sure you can guess. I semi-politely told this clown to screw off. Controlling myself just enough to avoid actually cursing the piece of garbage out, I simply told him that the Governor had been "misinformed"... that if anyone was "a problem" it was this clown State senator. I told the aide that John S. Hicks was the most honorable political figure I had ever met and that I wanted him to tell the Governor this.
Well... I got one of those non-descript "political" replies and that was that. (And never another call from Albany!) In any event... John weathered that storm.
I once spent an entire day with John - just the two of us... well... just the two of us and thousands upon thousands of fellow honorers of Ronald Reagan.
It was June 2004. President Reagan had passed away on June 5th. His body would lay "In State" in Washington D.C. on the 9th, 10th, and 11th. I forget which day it is we two drove down to pay our respects, but it was one of those days. I drove. We left from my house a bit after 5:00 a.m. (John was late; I remember waking Judy up by calling the house just to make sure John was on his way... which he was.) I drove... John paid for meals. We actually drove to the Maryland suburbs of the Capital where Judy's parents lived. (Great people!) From there we drove to the nearest public transit station where we took the train into the city and stood in line for five... six... seven hours... something like that. We stood in line talking to a young woman whose husband was a naval aviator... a fighter pilot if memory serves. The line was long but orderly. I remember a female congresswoman passing out water. Finally we made it in to the Rotunda where we solemnly paid our personal respects to Ronald W. Reagan, fortieth President of these United States.
(By the way... who did we see - making a scene and thus an ass out of himself by having a loud argument with someone at the Rotunda entrance itself? Patrick Leahy. What an ass! I'll never forget it! The disrespect...)
Anyway... no fancy diner in the District. Instead we went back to John's in-laws and had a very late lunch and then on our way back home we stopped at the Cracker Barrel for a late supper!
Yep... just as an aside... John took me to a heck of a lot of breakfasts, lunches, and a few dinners. I treated perhaps a quarter of the time. John paid the vast majority of our tabs. You could say I worked for John for meals! The Eagle was my baby. I never made a dime from writing, editing, or running it. John had early on offered to give me a sales commission but I refused. My work at The Eagle was a labor of love.
John S. Hicks was the "good government" champion of a party with its share of corruption and hypocrisy. It was John's honesty and integrity (not to mention hard work) which first won him the Chairmanship of the Committee... and when they spitefully discarded him... it was because he actually was the honest man of integrity whom they had first voted for. He walked the walk to support the talk and that was simply a bridge too far for many on the Committee and many in Albany. Here's the thing, though... John left the Chairmanship with his head held high and his true allies and supporters loving and respecting him more than ever. In "losing" the battle John definitely won the war.
John's biggest political mistake? (And mine...) Supporting Nan Hayworth for Congress. She ran as "one of us" and served as "one of them." John regretted running her successful first campaign and to this day I curse myself for having bought into Hayworth's bullshit. (But, hey... fool me once! Hayworth the Hypocrite served one term and then got booted out on her ass! John's was one of the boots that booted her in 2012!)
For the last few years John had been battling cancer. He should have won... but he didn't.
John was a fighter. And he fought hard. Never smoked... never drank... it goes without saying he never did drugs...
John led a healthy lifestyle. He stayed in shape. He was psychologically healthy with a loving marriage and family and friends who adored him and whom he adored in turn. For most of his life he was as healthy as they come... and he always looked to be 10-15 years younger than he actually was.
John had money! Oh... he worked for it. He saved. He invested. He did things right... by the book... lived within his means but lived well. Judy will be ok financially. This means a lot. But more's the shame in the sense that their retirement life was all set to be a wonderful one. A home here... a home in Florida... the resources to travel and enjoy the golden years with friends and family... all this taken away by cancer... by John's own body turning against itself. I just hope and pray that Judy Hicks will be able to go on with her life in the fashion my friend John would want for her.
Judy... if you ever read this... I love you. Over the decades I've spent much time with you - be it while traveling back and forth to airports or the City or be it sitting at the same table at political functions... or... the times when I was privileged to be a guest at either "the ol' Victorian" or your beautiful present home. Frankly, chatting with you about politics always struck me as complimentary to the discussions John and I would have. (And as a bonus, you and I never ended up screaming at each other over the merits and demerits of George W. Bush!)
(*GUFFAW*)
John... I trust you'll keep one eye on me from Heaven. Keep me a seat up there - one for Mary too!
Remember our ride to the airport where your hearing was all screwed up and you were so depressed over it and so to cheer you up I just blasted the radio and we sang with my Elvis CDs for the trip?! Yeah... I know you do. We'll sing again one day my friend... and, hell... when that day comes we'll sing WITH the King himself! (I mean Elvis... not... er... that other King... the "capital H" Himself....)
I'll do my best to stay in touch with Judy, John. You have my word.
Thanks for everything, John. Thanks for the times you tried to help me get a "real" job. Thanks for your advice on how better to handle myself when it comes to dealing with others. Thanks for all the free meals! Thanks for the private and public recognition and pats on the back. Thanks for the trust you put in me. Thanks for making me feel like "part of the family" in so many ways. Thanks for accompanying me to Village Court for that "incident" and putting the fear of God into that ADA just by your presence. (I'll never forget it... "Oh... Mr. Hicks... sir... such an honor to meet you...") Yep... good times!
I don't know why God took you, John... why He wouldn't intervene in answer to my prayers and the prayers of all the hundreds... nay, thousands... of people who had been praying for you... but now it's done... you are gone. I'll miss you, buddy.
Till we meet again...
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