of Little Rock, AR

February 17, 1925 - April 7, 2018

Ferrol Lee Hicks, 93, passed from this life April 7, 2018 in Little Rock, Arkansas. The only child of Arthur George J. Smith and Ida Delany Washburn, she was born in Des Moines, Iowa. Ferrol Lee graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1943. While attending Drake University as a music major, she was a member of Mu Phi Epsilon, a national music fraternity, and played with the Des Moines Civic Symphony.

During a mixer dance for World War II servicemen, she met Richard LeRoy Hicks, an Army Air Corp flight cadet attending Officer Training School at Drake. They married August 2, 1945, a day earlier than planned due to transfer orders he received. Still in her wedding dress, Ferrol Lee waved goodbye at the train station to her new husband. She followed Richard whenever possible during the war. They returned to his parent's home in Stuttgart after his discharge, subsequently settling in Little Rock.

Ferrol Lee was an accomplished violinist. She first enjoyed association with the Little Rock Chamber Orchestra, which led to becoming part of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, where she performed in the first violin section for many years. She taught piano in her home while her children were young.

Ferrol Lee completed her bachelor of music education at the University of Arkansas Little Rock in 1970. During her 20-year tenure as a orchestra teacher with the Little Rock School District where she taught until 1985, she was a primary contributor to the development of the orchestra program. In addition, she was active as director of the Arkansas Youth Orchestra.

In addition to her musical passion and talent, she had many interests. A meticulous seamstress, she not only made clothing and draperies, but gowns for the weddings of some of her children and grandchildren. Ferrol Lee loved learning, from how to arrange the flowers she loved in her early marriage to how to operate a computer and research her genealogy in her later years. In between, she enjoyed fishing and camping with her family, birdwatching, gardening, playing bridge, and playing string quartets.

Ferrol Lee was a social person who loved to entertain the family with large dinners. She and Richard belonged the Twirling Lariats Square Dance Club, and they traveled regularly with family and friends.

Ferrol Lee is preceded in death by her parents; her husband of 68 years, Richard; her son, Stephen G. Hicks; two great grandsons, Tristan Flynn and Colby Chappell. She is survived by two daughters, Carol Brown of Little Rock and Janet Griffin of Orlando, Florida; eight grandchildren, Jenn Flynn, Delana Keeling, Rebecca Chappell, Melissa Shipman, Christen Miles, Virgil Brown, Cora Rock, Janet Peacock; and 17 great grandchildren.

The family will receive friends from 12:00 until 1:00 p.m. Friday, April 20, 2018 at Roller-Chenal Funeral Home, 13801 Chenal Parkway, Little Rock, followed by a funeral service at 1:00 p.m. in the funeral home chapel. Interment will follow at Pinecrest Memorial Park.

Memorial donations may be made to the Youth Scholarship Program, Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, P. O. Box 7328, Little Rock, Arkansas 72217. Please note on the check that it is a memorial for Ferrol Hicks.

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