DeWitt Hicks was born in Memphis, but he grew up in Sledge in the Mississippi Delta, where he was the valedictorian of his senior class and an All-Delta basketball player. He grew up with country music star Charlie Pride and considered him a friend.

But Hicks never left any doubt about what he considered to be his hometown.

“He loved Columbus and Lowndes County and did so much for the community,” said Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau executive director Nancy Carpenter. “He was very proud of our community and the work he did.”

Hicks, an accomplished attorney who served stints as both city judge and city attorney and served on the CVB board for 25 years, died at his home Wednesday. He was 89.

“It would be easy to describe him as an officer and a gentleman,” said Shannon Bardwell, who worked as Hicks’ paralegal for more than 20 years, noting that Hicks served as an Air Force bomber pilot between graduating from Mississippi State and going to law school at Ole Miss.

“He loved to talk about his time in the military and told me stories about that part of his life,” said Kathy Miller, who had served as Hicks’ secretary since 2010.

It was Hicks’ gentle demeanor that those who knew him best recall the most.

“He was very pleasant to work for,” Miller said. “He was just the kindest, most generous man I ever worked for.”

“He was a gentleman,” Carpenter said. “Whether it was as board president (2012 to 2019) or as a board member, he had a way of bringing people together. He used his fine legal mind to go over the details of every matter put to the board and explain the process and what it would mean. But he never tried to tell anyone how to vote.”

During his six decades in Columbus, Hicks served in a multitude of capacities.

“When you look at all the positions he held, every single one of them involved helping Columbus and Lowndes County,” Carpenter said.

In addition to his work as a judge, city attorney and CVB board member, Hicks also served terms as chairman of the Columbus-Lowndes Economic Development Authority, president for the United Way of Lowndes County and Kiwanis Club, a member of the Palmer Home for Children board and in a variety of leadership roles at his church, First United Methodist.

He was a major part of the city’s Pilgrimage event where, with his wife of 66 years, Grayce, he opened his home, Rosewood Manor, as part of the tour of homes for 42 years until putting the home up for sale in 2019. The Hickses were one of the few Pilgrimage homeowners who made their home open for tours year-round.

“As big a part of his life as Pilgrimage was, he was supportive of all of the events and programs we put on through Visit Columbus,” Carpenter said. “He was so proud of the diversity of events we had. He and Grayce went to all the events. He always thought it was important for the board members to go to the events and support them and always encourage the board to participate.”

Hicks was equally devoted to the practice of law.

A founding partner of Gholson, Hicks and Nichols firm, Hicks was consistently rated among the state’s top attorneys and served as president for the Mississippi Bar Association. At the time of his death, he was one of the longest actively-working attorney’s in the state.

“I always seemed to be on the opposite side of him in court,” said Columbus city attorney Jeff Turnage, who practices law for the Mitchell, McNutt and Sams law firm. “Let’s just say he was a worthy adversary.”

“I was trying to think of the last time he came into the office,” Miller said. “It was either March or May, somewhere about that time. But even as his health declined, he always had it in mind that he was going to recover and get back into the office. I talked to him two or three times a week right up until Monday. Every time, he was talking about how excited he was to get back to the office.”

Even as a senior partner, Hicks was generous with his time, said Columbus native Lydia Quarles, who now practices law in Starkville.

“When I graduated from Alabama law school in 1978, I came back to Columbus and worked for DeWitt, first as his clerk and then, after passing the Mississippi Bar, as an attorney until 1981,” Quarles said. “He was the senior partner I was assigned to and I was the bottom person on his totem pole, you could say. He really taught me how to practice law, how to handle things and how to respond to things appropriately. I’m probably a little more hot-tempered than he is. I can remember him reading over letters I had planned to send out and, in his gentle way, he would say, ‘Why don’t you sleep on this before you send it?’ It was good advice.”

“He was kind, patient, wise, determined, and just,” Bardwell said. “A local mortgage banker described DeWitt as the last of the gentlemen lawyers. I will miss him terribly.”

Carpenter said Hicks leaves behind a long and accomplished legacy.

“He’ll be remembered as a fine attorney but also as a fine Christian man,” Carpenter said. “He’ll be remembered as a man who loved his family, fought for his country, loved his country. He loved his state and he especially loved Columbus and Lowndes County and always wanted the best for the community and worked hard to get those things.”

Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].

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