By Guy Coates

Dr. Taylor T. Hicks, Sr. was a man of high energy, firm vision and extraordinary ideals and lived a life filled with amazing achievements. He was highly revered for his boundless zest and dedication to community service.

Taylor was born on June 15, 1909 in Phoenix, the son of William Emmit Hicks and Ella Daty Hadley. At that time, Arizona was a territory. Three years later, Arizona became a state and that same year the Hicks family moved to Prescott, settling into a modest home at 234 N. Washington Street. His father, a Spanish-American War veteran from Tullahoma, Tennessee, worked as a wholesale produce distributor to support his family which included Taylor, his older brother Hadley, younger brother Bill, and sister Frances.

Taylor’s long history of accomplishments began early in life. His primary education, from kindergarten to high school, was obtained in Prescott. He was a boy scout while attending Washington Elementary School and he later attended Prescott High School which was then located on the southeast corner of Gurley and Marina streets where today’s Yavapai County Justice Administration Center now stands.

A glimpse of the Hicks family, as well as other families, and what it was like growing up in Prescott between 1909 and 1927 is delightfully chronicled in a book written by Taylor’s lifelong friend, Dixon Fagerberg Jr., "Meeting the Four O’clock Train," which is available at the Sharlot Hall Museum bookstore.

One snowy winter day while sledding with friends down South Pleasant Street hill, Taylor met his bride to be, Frances Lodge. They remained sweethearts throughout their high school and college years.

After school hours, Taylor delivered produce for his father and worked for the Crystal Ice Company delivering ice. About this time he became acquainted with Arizona state historian, Sharlot Hall, and spent many hours of his free time helping Ms. Hall deliver historic items to be placed in the museum that she later established.

Always a leader in high school, Taylor excelled in all sports, particularly in football, basketball and track. He was later inducted into the Prescott Athletic Hall of Fame. He served as student body president during his junior and senior years, and was one of four senior students elected to the National Honor Scholastic Society the year he graduated.

Following graduation, an article appearing in the Prescott Evening Courier on June 28, 1927 proudly announced: "Honors have come to Taylor Hicks, Prescott High School graduate this June. He was notified that he had won a scholarship to the University of Arizona." The article further proclaimed: "Hicks was the scholastic pride of Prescott High School, since in his four years there he did not fail to make an A in all of his grades. Not only was he an unusually bright student, but he was considered one of the best all-around athletes the school has produced."

Success continued for Taylor at the University of Arizona where he was a quarterback for the football team and a track letterman. His scholastic and athletic achievements were rewarded when he was initiated into the National Athletic Scholarship Society.

After completing two years at U of A, he enrolled in dental school at the University of Southern California where he was freshman class president as well as a member of Omicron Kappa Upsilon honorary dental fraternity. He worked year round at three jobs to put himself through college and graduated class valedictorian in 1933, earning his B.S. and D.D.S. degrees. He returned to Prescott and established his dental practice at 106 N. Cortez Street on September 18, 1933.

Taylor married his longtime sweetheart, Frances Lodge, on November 25, 1933. Soon thereafter, the couple settled into their life-long home at 303 South Washington Street where they raised their three children, Taylor Jr., Paul and Katherine.

(Guy Coates is a researcher and writer of many historical accounts, both in Truckee, CA and Prescott.)

Next week, in Part II, we will look at the many and varied aspects of Taylor’s community service to Prescott from 1933 through 1988, and his greatest honor of having a school named for him, "Taylor Hicks Elementary School."

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(Courtesy of the Hicks family) Reuse only by permission.

Taylor T. Hicks excelled in all sports and "was the scholastic pride of Prescott High School….considered one of the best all-around athletes the school has produced," according to the newspaper account after graduation in 1927. He was later inducted into the Prescott Athletic Hall of Fame.