[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Page 6726]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                        REMEMBERING WYMAN HICKS

 Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I wish to share with my colleagues 
the memory of a remarkable man, Mr. Wyman Hicks of Marin County. Mr. 
Hicks passed away on February 4, 2009, at the age of 90. Mr. Hicks was 
a passionate activist, educator, and inventor who contributed 
selflessly to the military, government, and his community.
  Wyman Hicks was born in Oakland, CA, on June 25, 1918. A bright child 
whose family experienced the hardships of poverty, Mr. Hicks developed 
a strong sense of justice and community service early in life. While 
attending the University of California at Berkeley, Mr. Hicks spent his 
summers in Alaska helping laborers and workers form a union.
  In 1938, Mr. Hicks traveled to Germany, where he helped German Jews 
find sponsors to help them escape to America. After receiving warnings 
from the U.S. consul that the Gestapo wanted to arrest him, Mr. Hicks 
returned to California to help farm workers in the Central Valley.
  During the Second World War, Mr. Hicks enlisted in the Army. He 
became a captain in the Signal Corps serving in New Guinea and the 
Philippines, and worked to rebuild Japan after the war. Mr. Hicks 
returned to Berkeley on the GI bill, where he received his bachelor's 
and master's degrees in economics. Later, as the director of new 
product development at Crown Zellerbach, Mr. Hicks contributed to the 
development of the strap-handled shopping bag.
  Wyman Hicks demonstrated a lifelong dedication to education, 
community governance, and civil rights. He served on the Sausalito City 
Council and the Bay Area Air Quality District Board, and was an active 
member of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Congress of Racial 
Equality. Mr. Hicks served as president of the Marin County Day School, 
and later became a professor in the management department of Sonoma 
State College. In 1987 he married Diana King.
  From 1988 until 1991, Mr. Hicks was a member of my staff. His service 
to the U.S. Congress was invaluable, and for that I am grateful. Mr. 
Hicks was a generous man who dedicated his life to public service. He 
will be deeply missed.
  Wyman is survived by his wife Diana King; his sons Kevin Hicks and 
Todd Hicks; his wife's sons Avi Rappoport and Richard Haven, and his 
five grandchildren.

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