No one imagined a eulogy to be so much amusing to read but this one was.
When Sybil Hicks passed away on February 2, 2019, her kids realized they couldn’t write a simple eulogy for such an amazing woman.
Sybil agonized from Alzheimer’s disease for many years, so they did not talk to their mother for a long time, recalling her as a humorous as well as an honest woman.
“We just thought that when she passed away, we didn’t have the desire to have such a formulaic eulogy,” said Brian Hicks, Cybil’s second oldest kid.
The siblings had the desire to do something to hold in great respect their mother’s personality and took the chance to have an “ultimate conversation” with her, albeit one-sided, with laughter.
So, after Sybil’s death that February morning being 81, Brian and his sisters Brenda and Barbara wrote their mother a bold but poignant first-person eulogy.
A eulogy that included lines such as “I, at last, have the smoking body I always desired… to be cremated”, was printed on the Reynolds Funeral Home website as well as in the Hamilton Spectator.
No one imagined a eulogy to be so much amusing to read but this was an exception. Sybil even gained popularity on the Internet after her eulogy was shared so many times.
Begins. “I’m sorry to say this… but I, Mrs. Ron Hicks of Baysville, have passed away.”
Brian mentioned that his mother frequently referred to him as “Mrs. Black”. Ron Hicks” to underline this.
“She used the term a lot when she had an opinion on things,” she said. And Sybil frequently did.
Although from time to time, she used her husband’s name as her own, Sybil had an uncommon nickname for her spouse.
“I am leaving my beloved spouse, Ron Hicks, whom I frequently lovingly called ‘horse-ass’,” the eulogy reads.
“He used the term a lot, and I’ll give you an instance,” Brian explained. “You know, when she said something high and authoritative, my dad lovingly told her,
“And she looked at him with a questioning look and said: – What do you mean? she carried on. “And he says, ‘Well, I can help you get out of the soap dish if you want. And then he called it a horse’s butt. That’s how the term intimacy came about.”
The eulogy states that Ronnie, who is currently looking after his “exceptional fellow Dorothy”, would not mind, having his wife’s ultimate burial from a grave.
When it was finished, Brian and his sisters conveyed her uncommon eulogy. Ron laughed as soon as they started telling him about it because it was so beautiful.
“He liked the way we presented the idea so much and he just said, “Carry on and I am hopeful the service is as enjoyable to praise your mother’s memory,” Brian said.
Each of Sybil’s kids, whom she “endured for years”, received an exceptional mention in a eulogy.
Her beloved one was the eldest, Bob, and Brian was the “Oreo cookie favorite”. Barbara was named “Miss Perfect”.
Brenda “will hurry to polish bathrooms when the company comes” and Brian “won’t eat homemade turkey soup because he doesn’t want to be frightened of the bones.”
Regardless of her acute tongue, Brian portrayed Sybil as “a generous person who always had a smile on her face”.
She worked as a nurse for twenty years and assisted Ron to run the Baysville School Bus Company. She makes vests for the regional lion club as well, gains bottles for aid, teaches sewing lessons and enjoys gardening.
Hicks’ house doors were always open for Ron and Sybil’s companions and their kids. Brian described that their companions were very often unwilling to leave and ended up staying overnight or for weekends because they “loved our family energy”.
Sybil is dwelled by her spouse and partner, five kids, and thirteen grandchildren. According to her eulogy, she seems to have lived a life full of love and laughter, and that truly matters.
