Auto icon dies at 94
By PAT FRIDGEN Echo Pilot

ALVIN HICKS

"He never really retired. His mind was perfect to the end. He always wanted to know what was going on at the business."

So said Kermit Hicks about his father, Alvin Hicks, who died at 94 years of age on August 3. Alvin founded Hicks Chevrolet in Greencastle in 1950 and it flourishes to this day.

Kermit and his wife Clarisse learned of his death while on a flight home from a European business trip and vacation on Friday. They have been making arrangements as they recover from the time difference and participate in their commitments to Old Home Week activities.

Kermit shared memories of his father, a man he said was typical of those who grew up in the Depression, "conservative, wise and ethical."

Alvin was born in Coseytown in 1913 and began his automotive career in the early 1930s. He first worked in sales and repair at Central Motors, a Dodge dealership in Hagerstown. In 1938 he and Harry Cunningham borrowed $500 to start Marion Auto Body Works.

With the outbreak of World War II, Alvin entered defense work for four years at Fairchild Aircraft. He was the final inspector for the C-82 Packet, an airplane designed for cargo and troop transport that could be loaded at ground level.

Alvin Hicks in 1954

Kermit relates that while Alvin had only an eighth-grade education, he was "a very bright guy." Once an engineer asked Alvin where he went to school. He replied, "White Pine." The engineer returned puzzled a few days later. He could find no record of such a college, not realizing the name applied to a one-room country school in Coseytown.

Alvin remained active at Hicks Chevrolet until 1978. Kermit, now Chairman of the Board, joined the company in 1958 and the two worked side by side for twenty years.

Tom Fox, owner of Fox Buick from 1949 until 1989, when he sold out to Kermit, remembers Alvin fondly.

"He's a great guy. He was a good competitor. I enjoyed hanging around with him."

He said Alvin was community oriented and helpful with area projects.

Robert Crunkleton, another longtime businessman in Greencastle, crossed paths with Alvin many times.

"I've known him for a good many years," he said. "We went to Lions Club conventions together, around the world really. He was a very interesting man. We worked a good bit together."

That included service on the Greencastle-Antrim Foundation and the Greencastle-Antrim Area Development Corporation.

"He helped a great deal in recruiting doctors and businesses to the area," Crunkleton said. He added that he and Alvin and their wives had fun playing cards together for years.

Alvin was also on the Board of Associates of the former Citizens National Bank and the board of the Franklin County Area Development Corporation.

His community service included sixty years as a member of the Greencastle Lions Club and being named a Melvin Jones Fellow. He was a life member of the Greencastle Rescue Hose Company No. 1 and the Greencastle Sportsman Association.

Kermit said Alvin traveled extensively and loved to hunt. He once bagged a record black bear in Pennsylvania.

In his personal life, he was also a musician. Alvin could play any stringed instrument, including violin and banjo. He met his wife Catherine by giving her guitar lessons.

Kermit remembers as a child listening to his dad and friends record music. Their band traveled to Baltimore Saturday nights to perform country music live on WBAL. He was selftaught and played by ear, even entertaining residents of the Shook Home in Chambersburg while he lived there the past six years.

Alvin's funeral is Friday at 2 p.m. at First United Methodist Church, with burial at Cedar Hill Cemetery. The family will receive friends at noon. He is survived by his children, Leona Witmer, Harrisonburg, Vir.; Kermit Hicks, Greencastle; and Roger Hicks, Riverton, Wyo., a sister, Ferne Tritle, Greencastle; 11 grandchildren and 19 greatgrandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his wife Catherine in 2001; his daughter Phyllis Utterback, who died unexpectedly July 16; and siblings Velda Myers, Rhoda Swisher, Julia Burkett and Glenn Hicks.