Billy Dean Hicks – Updated

Billy Dean Hicks, age 61, of Hope, Arkansas, passed away on February 3, 2026. He was a rattlesnake wrangler, a trapper, and a deadeye with a rifle. A maker of strong wine, builder of houses, and teller of tales. A man who worked too long and too hard, who opened his home to anyone who needed him, who took great care of his family but neglected himself. As a child, Billy sang but then stopped for decades. A few months before he died, he finally sang again, and his voice was strong and clear and beautiful still. He leaves behind a heavy silence between the trees where his voice used to sound.

Billy left footprints in dozens of countries. He served twenty years in the United States Army where he played rugby with his men and broke all of his fingers. Worked as a millwright where he built machines of his own invention. Maintained offshore oil rigs where he fished for enormous tuna right off the platform. Spent years as a defense contractor in Iraq and Afghanistan where his family shipped him liquor hidden inside mouthwash bottles so he could run a minty-fresh speakeasy for his friends.

He was born on December 21, 1964, in Picayune, Mississippi to Louise Walton and Lonnie Hicks. He was preceded in death by his father Lonnie Dean Hicks, his brother Jimmy “Buddy” Hicks, and his stepfather Bill Walton. He is survived by his mother Louise Walton of Hope, AR; stepmother Barbara Hicks of Village, AR; son Micah Hicks and wife Brenda Peynado of Tampa, FL; son Trevor Hicks and partner Alexis Carter of Rockledge, FL; grandchildren Lok, Harrison, Soledad, and Orion; sister Tina Carter of Tulsa, OK; sister Debra and husband Tim Gorman of Summerville, SC; sister Barbara White of Village, AR; sister Dana Burns of Stephens, AR; brother Bobby Hicks of Gurdon, AR; cousin Danny Couch of Springhill, LA; aunt Vernitta Rogers of Marion, AR; aunt OraBeth Straub of Lee, FL; great aunt Yvonne Munn and husband Donald Mack of Rosston, AR; great uncle Ellis and wife Nell Smith of Bodcaw, AR; ex-wife Melissa Hicks of Texarkana, AR; ex-wife Karen Hanks of Winnsboro, TX; many nieces, nephews, and friends; and two good dogs named Chunk and Blue.

In lieu of flowers, the family prefers memorial donations to be made to the Wounded Warrior Project to help service members and veterans living with PTSD.

A Memorial Service will be held on Friday, February 13, 2026, at 3:00 P.M. at Herndon-Fuqua Funeral Home- Hope.

Visitation will be held for one hour prior to the service from 2:00- 3:00 P.M.