When Sybil Hicks passed away on February 2, 2019, her children were aware that they were unable to just compose a straightforward obituary for such an extraordinary mother.

Because Sybil had Alzheimer’s for many years, it had been a very long time since her children had talked to their mother in the way that they previously knew her to be: a person who was funny and opinionated.

According to Brian Hicks, the second eldest of Sybil’s five children, “We simply felt that when Mom departed, we really didn’t want to have this kind of boilerplate template obituary.”

The children wanted to do something that would honor their mother’s unique personality while also seizing the opportunity to have “one final talk” with her and have some humorous exchanges with her before she passed away.

Therefore, Brian, together with his sisters Brenda and Barbara, wrote a bold but poignant first-person obituary for their cherished mother.

It even garnered Sybil prominence on social media, as shown by the fact that her obituary was posted thousands of times on the internet.

The first line of the text reads as follows: “It pains me to confess it… but I, Mrs. Ron Hicks from Baysville, have passed away.”

According to Brian, his mother would often refer to herself as “Mrs. Ron Hicks” whenever she wanted to emphasize a certain point.

After Brian and his sisters had completed writing the unusual obituary, they showed it to their dad, Ron, for approval. Ron burst into laughter as they began to tell him about it since he thought it was just amazing.

“He just felt so comfortable with the way that we presented the concept, and he just said, “Carry on, and I hope the service is just as wonderful to honor your mother’s life.”

The obituary states that Sybil “tolerated throughout the years” each of her children, and the write-up makes a point to highlight each of them individually.

Brian described Sybil as having a “sweet heart and a grin on her face at all times,” despite the fact that she possessed a sharp tongue.

During those twenty years, she maintained a career as a nurse and assisted Ron in the management of a school bus business in Baysville. She also enjoyed gardening, collecting bottles for charity, teaching sewing workshops, and creating vests for the local Lion’s Club.

The Hicks family always made their house available to Ron and Sybil’s friends, as well as the friends of their children.

According to her obituary, it seems like she had a life that was full of love and laughter, which is all that truly counts in the end.