Dianna P Hicks

Dianna was born Diana Priscilla Taylor, but later changed the spelling of her first name to Dianna with two n’s. This type of radical thinking was typical for her. She was the oldest of four children born to William and Alice Taylor in Pittsburgh, PA. She was married to Arthur Hicks of Pittsburgh, PA, and from this union, three daughters were born; Shari, Sheila, and Kim.

A natural-born leader, Dianna was always picked to be the one in charge even though she led those who were older than she, whether at work or in her family. She often told her daughters that she was the first to convince her mother and grandmother to wear pants. Dianna loved to travel and headed up several trips to many islands. She worked at Mercy Hospital for 35 years and always loved that hospital and continued to go there to get her care long after retirement.

Dianna attended Christian Chapel AME Church of Penn Hills in her younger years, but in her later years, she went to Bethany Baptist Church in Homewood. The greatest change and joy in our mother’s life is when the Lord humbled her heart and saved her. She used the word humble a lot when referring to a change of heart. Her faith was in Jesus who died in her place and took her punishment for her sin. She said she knew she deserved to go to Hell, but God’s mercy and grace saved her from His wrath.

Our mother would speak of her life change by God and would recall times when she did people wrong and she would say, “This is what I should have done…” and it was always out of a new heart. She was truly a new person.

Mom spent many years reading the Bible and praying for her family, friends, and many others – the homeless and people in trouble. She stayed up for hours – reading and praying. We know she prayed for us – we all knew she was praying. Some of our lives changed. What sorrow we have because a great channel of our spiritual strength is gone.

Dianna loved to learn about the Bible. She attended a discipleship class at Bethany Baptist Church with Stan Pratt as the leader and Lang Jeffries who was another teacher in her class. They taught her and she taught them. They became her sons – and she their mother, “Ma Hicks”.

Mother’s health started to decline after a while and she could not attend church. These past three or four years were the most difficult as mom started losing the ability to walk. She was bedridden but still enjoyed hearing the Word of God preached and read to her and she still prayed. So, the Lord has brought mom through many serious illnesses and she loved Him, even more, each time.

Dianna loved her three daughters and she thought the world of them. She always talked about her girls. She knew her girls would come to see about her no matter what…and they did until the very end!

Where is she now? She’s with Him, her Lord, and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Our beloved Mom left behind many family members: her three daughters; Shari D. Robinson (Alfred), Sheila V. Byrd (Charles), and Kim G. Hicks; three brothers: William “Bill” Taylor (Virginia), Lawrence Taylor (Cheryl), Donald Taylor, and a host of grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and friends.

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