The way his dad sees it, Josh Hicks, who died a week ago last Friday at 27, a year before he would have received a master of divinity degree from Gordon-Conwell Seminary, wove together a sermon that’ll be touching lives for years to come.

“He loved to sing, loved to play piano,” Geoff Hicks said. “And, oh how he loved to laugh. His laugh was contagious. For a kid who had so many reasons not to laugh, the thing everyone’s remembering is the beauty of his laughter. Isn’t that remarkable?”

Josh spent much of his life in a culinary minefield, dealing not only with ruthless asthma, but also a string of allergies that made him a familiar figure at hospitals.
Indeed, one year Childrens Hospital featured him on its annual telethon after he nearly died from an allergic reaction.

“Bread, rice, anything dairy, and he couldn’t be near seafood; same with peanut butter,” Geoff recounted. “Yet I never heard him complain and I credit his mother for that. She was very sensitive to his needs, very nurturing, yet loved him enough to let him pursue his goals.

“We were all so proud when he graduated from Hamilton College because that was the first time he had lived on his own, having to deal with all of these dangers, and he succeeded.”

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