Hicks, Thomas Hayden Jr., 83, a longtime resident of Montgomery and subsequently Millbrook, Alabama, passed away surrounded by family on October 24, 2026, at Baptist Medical Center East in Montgomery, Alabama. He was preceded in death by his parents, Thomas Hayden Hicks, Sr. and Mary Woodall Hicks; his wife, Linda Sanders Hicks, who passed in April 2025; and his chihuahua Peanut and aquarium fish Bubba. He is survived by his brother, Wayne Hicks, of Montgomery, AL, and his sister, Betty Hicks Lamar, of Prattville, Alabama, as well as his children, Hayden Andrew Hicks of Clanton, Alabama, and Shannon Hicks McDonald of Wetumpka, Alabama, and grandchildren Charleigh and Landon Hicks of Clanton, Alabama.
Thomas was born in Montgomery, Alabama, on September 13, 1943. He attended Robert E. Lee High School, where he was a saxophone player in the band and a member of the radio, chemistry, and music appreciation clubs prior to his graduation in 1961. He proceeded to receive a degree from the University of Alabama’s School of Commerce and Business Administration with a major in Accounting in April 1968. After serving 6 years in the Alabama Air National Guard’s 232nd Division, he passed the Alabama State Board of Public Accountancy in May of 1974 to become a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). He worked for several accounting firms, including Blankenship, Lamar, Gilliland, & Hicks, P.C., Wilson, Price, Barranco, Blankenship & Billingsley, P.C., and Warren Averett Wilson Price, LLC for nearly 45 years prior to his retirement.
Thomas loved to travel with his wife Linda to country music shows and venues across the southeast, and possesses an entire photo album of himself and his wife with Naomi and Wynonna Judd, of the previous band The Judds. He loved all classic country and gospel music, such as Kenny Rogers, Willie Nelson, the Oak Ridge Boys, and the Gaither Brothers. Thomas loved to travel the country in a RV with his family, going so far as New York and Canada to the north, into Mexico to the south, and to California and the Redwood Forests to the west. He was an avid fisherman, with a second home on Lake Jordan in Holtville, Alabama, and he loved to eat out at restaurants. He was a loving husband, father, and grandfather, and his jokes and mischievous smile will be missed.
