Charles McClure Hicks of McKinney, Texas passed away on March 28, 2019 at the age of 72 at BelTerra Health and Rehab Center in McKinney with his wife by his side. He was a resident of McKinney for the past 13 years and prior to that lived in Dallas, Texas and Houston, Texas. Charlie was born on October 19, 1946 to James R. Hicks and Melva McClure in Jersey City, New Jersey. He spent his early years in Kearny, New Jersey before his family moved to Orange, Texas. Charles was a 1964 graduate of Lutcher Stark High School in Orange, Texas. He attended University of Texas at Austin obtaining a degree in Electrical Engineering before joining the United States Air Force. Charles trained at Keesler Base, Mississippi and then was deployed to Vietnam. He was then transferred to March Air Force Base in California when his deployment in Vietnam was completed. Charles was married to his former wife for 30 years before marrying Jean Cunningham in 1996. He had no biological children but when Charles married Jean he felt he had hit the “jackpot” because Jean had two children from her previous marriage. Charlie was a true father to them.
He was a man of vast intellect; he attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology; MIT in Washington D.C. and anyone that knew Charlie knew that he was a genius when it came to radio telemetry and control systems. He made his career first in the oil field and then fresh water and waste water control systems. Charles worked for Brown and Root in Houston, Texas and overseas installing cable in the ocean floor. He was impacted by the oil field crash and moved to Dallas and went into water and waste control systems opening Process Control Systems and then formed Richardson Logic Control which is still operating today under RLC Controls.
Charlie loved the cinema. In his healthier days, he would see 3-4 movies each week. Charles loved the action movies as well as sci-fi movies. And when he and Jean built their home in McKinney, he made sure he had a state of the art theater room.
Charlie lived a big life traveling and working all over the world. Running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain with his best friend Shakey Holder to riding a motorcycle cross country, his love of Porsche’s and racing, building companies, making money and yet his proudest moments were his kids and grandkids.
He is survived by his wife of 23 years, Jean Hicks of McKinney, Texas; son, Michael Cunningham and wife, Kristie Cunningham of McKinney, Texas; daughter, Kathleen Bates and husband, Robert Bates of Nevada Texas; grandchildren, Amber Cunningham and Brady Cunningham, both of McKinney, Texas and Dalton Bell and wife, Brittni of Little Elm, Texas; great granddaughter, Branon Bell; brother, James R. Hicks II; and sister in law, Paulette Hicks of Louisville, KY.
Charlie was preceded in death by his parents James R. Hicks and Melva McClure.
A celebration of Charlie’s life will be held at 10:00 a.m., Friday, April 5, 2019 at Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow Funeral Home Chapel, 2525 Central Expressway North, Allen, Texas 75013. Inurnment is to follow immediately in Ridgeview Memorial Park, Field of Honor in Allen, TX. Lunch will be served following the inurnment at Myers Park & Event Center, 7117 County Road 166, McKinney, TX 75071.
Memorials may be made in Charlie’s honor to Gary Sinise Foundation.