John Pendleton Hicks II and
Julia Esther Frostrom appeared on the census of 1930 in San Francisco, San Francisco County, California.
4 His wife, Julia, died on 3 June 1962 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, at age 57, leaving him a widower.
1,3,5 He lived in 1967 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, Source: His Mother's 1967 obituary.
John inherited his father's musical talent and, following years of study in that field, became head arranger for, and close friend of Meredith Wilson of "Music Man" fame. John also composed and arranged music for several movies and the West Coast Ice Capades. He and his first wife, Julia, who died in 1962, had one daughter, Rosalie. He and his second wife, Betty, traveled widely. John passed away unexpectedly on May 24, 2001, a few days after undergoing surgery for a strangulated abdominal hernia.
Recollections of John Pendleton Hicks IIBy his niece, Miriam D. Nesbit
The third child of Charles and Jessie Hicks was born in Antelope, Oregon, on July 22, 1904. The boy was named after his grandfather, John Pendleton Hicks, a Kentucky native and Civil War veteran.
A short time after the younger John's birth, Charlie Hicks moved the family from Antelope, Oregon, to a homestead near Ajax; in Gilliam County, Oregon. Once the two-year proving up of the homestead was completed, it was decided that they should move to Portland, Oregon, so that the older children could attend school.
Charlie soon arranged a trade, taking a weekly newspaper in Independence, Oregon, in exchange for the homestead. John's memories begin there.
At his new venture, Jessie worked right along with Charlie, running the linotype and striving to help make the newspaper a success.
Grandma Mary Jane Stewart Miller cared for the children and did the cooking. 0n one occasion, John recalled, when they sat down to supper after a long day's work, Charlie asked Grandma how she could have ruined the rice. She replied that she had taken very good care of it and had stirred it regularly. For the uninitiated, rice is to be steamed unstirred, with the lid on, for a set period of time, so that the kernels will soften.
Grandma had an old cast iron, deep kettle with three legs. One day, Charlie and Jessie came home to find the house filled with a terrible smell. Grandma had spent the day making soft soap like they did when coming over the Oregon Trail. She had rendered a lot of suet, then mixed it with sifted ashes. I am sure that she was offended when the family did not appreciate her efforts. But she did make great hominy, taking a big amount of dry corn and soaking it in lye until the corn got soft, then washing away all of the lye.
After a succession of trades, one business for another, the family moved to Raymond, Washington. There, with the backing of a group of Democrats who had hopes of routing a lawless element from town, Charlie made an attempt to run a newspaper for them. But the contest became a little rough. When his reporter was beaten up by the toughs, Charlie gave up on the newspaper and set up a printing business of his own in a better part of town.
John, who was about eleven years old, was put to work, hand-feeding the printing machine for his dad. He hated it. His love of music had surfaced by this time, and he'd have much preferred to spend those hours developing his talent. I recall that Grandma Jessie said playing music was John's passion. He did not have to be urged to practice; he could not be stopped from playing. Since the family was never well-off financially, I imagine that Charlie, with his own musical talent, was his son John's teacher.
John recalled one very vivid memory from the Raymond, Oregon, years. He and his sister Dorothy, were in a part of the town built on mud flats. When the tide went out, the two children were horrified to find a dead man on a pile of debris. Needing to tell someone, they called to a man nearby, who chased them away so that he could get the $5.00 reward for finding the body.
For reasons that have not been explained to me, the family eventually moved to Hillyard, Washington, and then to Endicott on the eastern side of Washington, not far from Spokane, Washington. From there, after my mother Charlotte, the oldest child, had moved to Pullman, Washington, the rest of the family moved to Sandpoint, Idaho, where Charlie and Jessie ran a weekly newspaper.
A teenager at the time, John rebelled against his menial and boring jobs associated with the newspaper. One day, he hopped a freight drain, only later letting his parents know that he was working on a farm in the Palouse country in eastern Washington. In John's words, "Those first few years, I rode freight cars, blind baggage, and worked as a mill hand, a harvester in the Palouse country, and did my thing in Washington, Idaho, Montana and Oregon. Had great expectations for sure."
At age nineteen, in an unlikely location, John got his first toehold into the music business. He was working at a sawmill in Boner's Ferry, Idaho, when a group came into town to play for a dance. John asked if they would let him sit in for a set. Reluctantly, they agreed. At the end, they asked him if we were free to join them, and he was hired as a working musician. They played their way to Seattle, and from there they made a round trip tour on the steamship "President Jackson" to Japan, China and Manila.
Following that, he played for about a year in Portland and eleven years in San Francisco. Then he was hired by Meredith Wilson of "Music Man" fame. During all this time, he was studying, studying, studying music. He became Meredith's close friend, as well as chief arranger. He also wrote and arranged music for movies and the West Coast Ice Capades. He served in the Navy during World War II, but I do not have the details at this time.
On August 7, 1925, in Sacramento, California, he married a vocalist, Julia Esther Frostrom. Their daughter Rosalie Elaine Hicks was born in Oakland, California, on April 7, 1927. Julia Frostrom Hicks died of cancer on June 3, 1962.
Their daughter, Rosalie, married Douglas James Carmody, on July 14, 1945. They are parents of Linda Gale Carmody Lourim, born on June 16, and Brian Dexter Carmody, born on January 10, 1952, and are grandparents of Rebecca Marie Carmody, born on December 13, 1977, and James Michael Lourim, born on January 25, 1983, and William Douglas Lourim, born on May 27, 1985.
John and his second wife, Barbara (Betty) Volpin Farber, were married on February 25, 1964, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Betty was born on June 30, 1909, in Livtosk, Russia.
On the many cruises that John and Betty took during their retirement years, John was often called on to entertain the cruise guests with his musicianship. Although his principal instrument had always been the slide trombone, he enjoyed playing the banjo and a variety of other instruments.
John's death came unexpectedly on May 24, 2001, a few days after he underwent surgery for a strangulated abdominal hernia. Right up to the time he entered the hospital, he still had a keen and active mind. At the time of his death, he was just a few weeks short of his 97th birthday.
*****
We have the following letter written by John Pendleton Hicks II:
JOHN P. HICKS - 3834 Tracy St., Los Angeles, CA 90027 September 6, 1970
Dear Mr. Phillips:
Here are some highlights of 50 years of my musical life.
1925 San Francisco. Left the jazz bands and went into theaters. Started to study the trombone seriously.
1927 Started studying theory, composition and orchestration privately with Domenico Brescia, Dean of Music at Mills College, for the next five years.
1928 After the "Jazz Singer" ended theater musicians, went on staff of radio station KFRC in San Francisco as trombone and arranger. Meredith Willson came on as music director in 1929 and for the next 20 years was closely associated with him.
1942 U.S. Navy as trombone arranger for "Anchors Away", next USS Black Hawk, Kiska Campaign and Pearl Harbor. Glenview Naval Air Station, near Chicago, as trombone arranger for NBC released radio show and then Armed Forces Radio Service, Hollywood until VJ Day.
1946 Staff Arranger, American Broadcasting System, Hollywood.
1947-1953 Composer, Arranger for "Voice of Information & Education" and also "Voice of America". Followed a period of free-lance and playing the circus with Merle Evans, etc.
1962 Arranger and music preparation for TV shows. Currently with Ivan Ditmar's "All American College Show" and "Let's Make a Deal."
Am playing first stand trombone with Herb Wilkings Band and make arrangements and originals when I have time.
Thanks a lot for your call, and I wish you all the best. I think Merle Evans is a wonderful man.
Sincerely,
John.