Date of death: November 14, 2020

Saint Meinrad Class: O 1973

Glenn Edward Hicks, 73, of Salt Lake City, UT died peacefully at home on November 14, 2020 from Parkinson’s Lewy Body Dementia. Glenn is survived by his loving partner Julie Oblad of Salt Lake City; four children – Karen McDonald (Evansville, IN), Michael Hicks (Holland, IN), Tina Barrett (Derby, KS) and Bryan Hicks (Seminole, FL); brothers Jeff Klingler and Tim Klingler, and sister-in-law Rosemary Hicks; Julie’s children Tyson, McKinsie, Timothy, Cicely and Jory Oblad, and Kjera Miranda; and 18 grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his parents, Alfred and Regina Klingler, and a brother, Jim Hicks.

Glenn was born July 8, 1947 in Evansville. He attended St. Meinrad Seminary his freshman year and graduated from Rex Mundi High School in 1965.

Glenn worked for IBM for 30 years…starting as a service representative, then advancing to their sales division which took him to Roswell, GA and finally to Salt Lake City, UT. He ended his career with IBM as Events Coordinator for rollouts of new IBM hardware for the Western US.

Accepting early retirement from IBM allowed him to fulfill a dream of owning his own business. He invested in Great Clips in 1995 and was involved in the daily duties of growing and operating 16 franchise hair salons, until his second retirement in the fall of 2019.

Glenn’s gift was his innate desire to serve people. It started with his easy smile and sense of humor. He would draw strangers in with his back and forth witty banter. People liked him and he was only satisfied when his target walked off smiling and laughing.

If you crossed paths with him a second time, you were pulled into his orbit of generosity. An encouraging note handwritten on every employee paycheck. A paid-for plane ticket home for an unexpected funeral. All-nighters helping a fellow franchisee build their Great Clips salon so they could finally open.

He was a foodie who loved German dishes, enjoyed cooking for himself and others, and was always the first on the dance floor. He never met a stranger, and his sense of humor and playful jokes will continue to make us laugh at the memories.

If you were lucky enough to really know him, you witnessed one of those rare people who lived his life to make the rest of us feel good, and in turn, he would soak in the joy he unleashed in us, and the world shined brighter.