Joan Ellen Hicks

SALISBURY — Joan Ellen (Crooker) Hicks passed away Friday, Nov. 10, 2023, at the Fisher Home in Amherst, Massachusetts, at the age of 91. She was a long-time resident of Worthington, Massachusetts. She was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on July 15, 1932, the daughter of the late Orville Dewey Crooker and Ester (Sandell)Crooker and resided in Bethany, Connecticut.

She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Connecticut, June 18, 1954, and a Masters degree in Medical Technology at Brigham Young University, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Joan lived in Canton, and worked at New Britain General Hospital until she married John Clark Hicks, June 2, 1962, and moved to Millerton. While in Millerton she was active in the Millerton Library and was a founding member of the North East Historical Society. She was also a long-time member and active Committee Chairman of the Twin Lakes Beach Club in Salisbury.

In 1977, she and John relocated to Salisbury, and Joan continued to work at both Charlotte Hungerford Hospital and Sharon Hospital as a Registered Medical Technician. She was a 70 + year member of the Connecticut Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club, active in the White Water Canoeing and the Trails Committees and became Trails Chairman in 1983 for several years during the major relocation of the Appalachian Trail in Connecticut.

After her divorce in 1986 she relocated to Canaan, and eventually retired from Sharon Hospital in 1994 and moved to Paonia, Colorado, to be with her dear friend Polly Pulver and enjoy the Colorado snow. In 2004 she moved to Worthington, Massachusetts, where she became a well-known artist and crafts person known as “sparrow” and had many of her art displayed in local galleries in the Berkshires.

In addition to her parents she was predeceased by her sister, Barbara Eastman and her long-time companion, Oliver Wiley of  Worthington, Massachusetts.

She is survived by her daughter, Amy Sandell (Hicks) Kitt and her husband A.J., of Hood River, Oregon, and 3 grandchildren, Aksel, Ava, and Ayden Kitt, and her ex-husband John Hicks, of Salisbury.

The Williamsburg Funeral Home, Williamsburg, Massachusetts is in charge of all arrangements.

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