At 100 years old, Alma Dean Hicks has served as treasurer of Cedar Grove Baptist Church in Leakesville, Mississippi, for 65 faithful years — and she has no intention of retiring.
Precise to the exact penny and passionate for God’s people, she loves her church, and Cedar Grove loves her in return. On June 7, Gregory Foster, Hicks’ pastor, along with music minister, William Ricks, surprised her with a service and sermon dedicated to faithful living, with Hicks as the honorable example.
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As family from out of town gathered around her, the church presented a plaque reading, “With all our deepest appreciation, we hereby honor Ms. Alma Dean Hicks, treasurer, for 65 years of faithfulness, commitment, and dedication to service for Cedar Grove Baptist Church.”
Concluding the service, Maria Teel from the executive office of the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board presented Hicks with a certificate recognizing her ministry, on behalf of Shawn Parker, executive director-treasurer, and the entire MBCB staff.
Having grown up in Cedar Grove, Hicks also raised her six children in her childhood church, three of whom still attend Cedar Grove today.
“Mother has always liked math,” said Rita Walley, Hicks’ daughter and pianist for Cedar Grove. “She was attending the University of Southern Mississippi, majoring in financing, when her father had a stroke. Her older brothers were in the military and there was no one to help her mother, so she quit school and came home to help take care of her dad. She never went back to college.”
‘Fount of financial finesse’
Although Hicks surrendered higher education to help her family, she would eventually become the treasurer of Cedar Grove through a rather amusing turn of events.
“In the 60s, the church asked my dad to take the treasury position,” Walley said. “He took his work home and asked mother to do it. So she did it for him, got the title, and has done it ever since!”
Today, Hicks continues to serve as treasurer of the church, with Walley as her assistant. Family, friends, and coworkers affirm that she is a fount of financial finesse.
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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Lindsey Carraway and originally published by the Baptist Record.
