Wanda Eloise Hickman

Wanda Eloise Penland Hickman went on to be with the Lord on the morning of All Saints Day 2025 in Dallas, Texas at the age of 89. She passed peacefully with her daughter and grandson beside her and holding hands with her beloved husband and caregiver Jerry with whom she had been married 45 years. Wanda was born in Waco on August 18, 1936 to John R. and Ruth Wilson, who were later owners of Winter Garden Ballroom in Dallas. She graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1954. In her first marriage, Wanda raised a son and two daughters who were all in the band of Lewisville H.S. She was an active Booster, involved in PTA, a class mom and a volunteer in the Special Ed Program. She expanded her children’s world with trips to the Ft Worth Children’s Museum and planetarium. When all three were in high school she began what would be a career in home decorating sales with employment at Harper House. She went on to work under the mentorship of Ruby Price in Preston Center before opening her own store, Decorate and Correlate, in Plano, which she operated for five years. Wanda and Jerry had known each other through a mutual friend for years, but hadn’t thought of each other as lovers until the summer of 1979 when Jerry was visiting that friend on his annual trip back to Texas from Germany. After six months of intense transatlantic correspondence, Wanda joined Jerry with clothes, Camero and a cat named Sassy. They were married in Dallas at her parent’s house on New Year’s Eve 1980, making it easy for Jerry to remember their anniversary. During the years that followed they traveled Europe extensively, acquiring china, crystal and antique furnishings along the way. In October of 1983 IBM moved them back to Texas for Jerry’s position as Product Planner in Las Colinas. Wanda was quickly back into the design business, working in sales first for Seabrook Wallcovering and later Imperial. Her warmth, professionalism and dedication made her not only one of the company’s top earners but also one of its most loved. Clients often became lifelong friends, drawn to her sincerity and gift for making everyone feel seen and valued. Wanda always loved to cook and host dinner parties. After discovering Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Childes she began organizing formal dinners for neighborhood couples in Flower Mound. In Germany she introduced TexMex to the friends she quickly made there. And back in Texas she often arranged lavish dinners for newly made friends and clients. Paella, Beef Wellington and Rack of Lamb were her favorites, but she loved to try new recipes from what grew to be a sizeable library of cookbooks. Her baking included French pastries and breads for which she won several awards at the State Fair of Texas including a year’s supply of Gold Medal flour. Retirement for Wanda meant taking on the new challenge of becoming the owner/innkeeper of a bed and breakfast in East Texas that she and Jerry expanded into a retreat center for businesses, church groups, quilters, scrapbookers and crafters. There she had the opportunity of plying her culinary expertise for 15 to 30 guests nearly every weekend except during December when they began traveling again to Hawaii, Central America and the Caribbean. As Wanda’s physical condition worsened (she had dealt with a rare blood disorder since 1996) they decided to sell BailiTeal Farm and move back to Dallas closer to her doctors and the arts, and become active in their church at Northway. They always had season tickets to the Dallas Symphony and occasionally attended operas and new release movies. Wanda helped with vacation Bible school for several years and baked her special muffins for the men attending biweekly Bible study. With COVID, she lost her beautiful singing and telephoning voice, but she continued to keep in touch with friends, family and former colleagues. She will be remembered for her radiant smile, quick wit, her laughter and the spark in those beautiful blue eyes.

Wanda is survived by her husband Jerry; son W. Howard Penland and wife Erica; daughters Wysondria Penland and Susanne Faulkenbury and husband Kim; grandchildren: John Roy Penland and Lillie Michelle Thomas and husband Trevor; great-grandchildren: George and AvaRae Thomas and Kathryn Penland; unofficially adopted step-children John Howe and wife Simone and their children Simon and Nick; Jeannette Howe and her children Laura and Nils; step-grandchild Abby Brennan and finally, red-headed step-daughter Betsy Kersting

A Celebration of Life service will be held at Northway Christian Church,7202 W. Northwest Hwy, Dallas, TX, on Saturday, November 15, 2025 at 11 am.

The family is so thankful to Texas Oncology and especially Drs. Cooper and Pearson and their nurses for treating Wanda’s blood disorder for nearly 30 years. As in everything she did, Wanda excelled even in response to that treatment. In lieu of flowers, please send contributions to either of these pharmaceutical charities for chronic diseases: Chronic Disease Fund,Inc., DBA Good Days, 2611 Internet Blvd, Ste 105, Frisco, TX 75034 or PAN Foundation, P.O. Box 30500, Bethesda, MD 20824