Our marvelous Mona Bell met her creator on May 6, 2024. She blessed our lives for 89 wonderful years full of love, wisdom, wit, and compassion. She opened her arms to all walks of life, and never met a stranger. Simply put: To know her was to love her. A legendary matriarch, companion, and confidant to her family and friends… Mona was the definition of “cool!“
Mona Bly Hicks was born to Jewel Ditmore and Cliff N. Bly on April 29, 1935 in San Angelo, Texas. She attended Lake View HS where she cheered and excelled in sports. She was honored to be Lake View’s “Coming Home Queen” twice. She married Bobby Gene Hicks in 1951, and was blessed with two children, Monette (in 1954) and Michael (in 1958). Attending Immanuel Baptist Church since birth, Mona and Bobby chose to raise their children there and made many lifelong friends. As a young woman, she taught Sunday School and was very involved in the girls’ youth group. She was a very strong and faithful Christian her entire life, always leading with a level head and love. She was long on common sense, always telling you like it is… something that perpetually led us on the right paths.
Mona opened the Carriage when she was 34, a place that nurtured countless friendships and fabulous fashion… two things that were very important to her. She loved what she did, and the Carriage’s success was her dream that she saw realized! Although she loved the success of her business, the happiest day of her life was when she became a grandmother! Bobby and Mona‘s world revolved around their grandchildren. From babydolls and bugs to mudpies and Malt-O-Meal, and singing old songs from the past, “Going to Grandmommy‘s“ was Heaven on Earth! There was just nothing better! Mona blessed her grandchildrens’ lives with deep wisdom and loving guidance. Her favorite thing was to stay up all night, laughing and visiting with her grandchildren. You could never leave her house at a decent hour, nor did you really want to! She was love. She retired at 56, and spent the rest of her days working in her beautiful backyard, and keeping the Diet Dr. Pepper Corporation in business!
Mona was preceded in death by her husband of 67 years, Bobby Gene Hicks, her parents, Cliff and Jewel Bly, and her brother, Cliff Bly. Left to cherish her memory are: her daughter, Monette Hicks Harris and husband, Hilton Harris, her son, Michael Lee Hicks and wife, Melissa Hicks, her grandchildren: Courtnie Harris Isbell (Cody), Tesa Thompson (Bryan), Tay Harris (Travis), Hunter Hicks (Kaley), and her great-grandchildren: Will Wagner, Kennedy and Blaine Foster, Bly and Beck Harris, Hudson Hicks, and Vera Reign Schneider. She is also survived by her dearest and devoted friend, Jody Jett, and extended family Candis Hicks.
Our Mona Bell will go down in the history books as the best mother, grandmother, confidant, protector, poet... and our biggest fan! She always had and always will own a piece of our hearts. She is forever in the arms of Jesus and her own grandmother, Ma Bly, and we all now gain the gift of a new guardian angel.
A private service will be held for Mona. Family and friends are invited to pay their respects and sign the register book in her honor at Johnson's Funeral Home.
“What though the odds be great or be small,
Old Lakeview high will win overall,
while her loyal sons go marching onward to victory!“
