When Bill Hicks retired from the Texaco oil company in 1998 after 33 years, he didn’t just sit back and soak up the sunshine.
The Ramona resident became church counsel president for the Ramona Lutheran Church, which he attended, and absorbed Mr. Mom duties for his two daughters, Hilary, now 41, and Cassandra, 44.
He served as a board member for Ramona High School’s Bulldogs Booster Club to support his daughters’ extracurricular activities when Hilary was a freshman and Cassandra was a senior.
Both women now work at the director level for e-commerce companies – Hilary in Lugano, Switzerland and Cassandra in London, Hicks said.
But it only took him six months after retiring as a manager for Texaco Marketing to decide he wanted to join the Volunteer Sheriff’s Patrol in Ramona.
“The most valuable thing about it was giving back to the community,” said Hicks, 84.
Now, 27 years later with well over 10,000 volunteer service hours behind him, Hicks is retiring from the Volunteer Sheriff’s Patrol. He was administrator of the group for 22 of those years.
His comrades held a big send-off party for him Feb. 6 at the D’Carlos Restaurant, which included cake topped off with a lifetime of memories.
Courtesy Danna Atkins
Volunteer Sheriff’s Patrol administrator Bill Hicks celebrates his retirement from the organization with his wife, Margie. (Courtesy Danna Atkins)
Beside him at the ceremony was his wife of 48 years, Margie, current and retired Volunteer Sheriff’s Patrol members, deputies in charge of the program, Ramona Sheriff’s Lt. Scott Roller and several deputies from the San Diego County Sheriff’s Ridgehaven headquarters.
“It was packed,” said Hicks about the surprise retirement party. “It was unbelievable the number of people who were there. I saw a Sheriff’s car parked in front of the restaurant and we parked at the old Bank of America building because the restaurant parking lot was full. Right then I smelled a rat.”
During the ceremony, he was given his Sheriff’s badge as a memento of his years of service.
“It’s traditional for that amount of time I put in to get a badge in a shadow box,” he said.
Wally Jewell, who worked under Hicks’ administration, shared stories about him at the celebration.
“He found this program to be an excellent way to give back to the community,” Jewell said. “He saw its membership grow from five to a high of 34 individuals. Under his leadership as administrator, this group of volunteers was highly visible and active within our community while assisting our local Sheriff’s Office. Bill was always handling the many issues that came up during his tenure. He also liked hosting our parties, and Christmas and summertime luncheons.”
The 36-year Ramona resident recalled his many years of service as a volunteer patroller beginning in 1998.
Most of his time was spent performing one patrol per week and working as an administrator for a couple of hours each week day, he said. He also performed vacation checks on homes and participated in the Sheriff’s You Are Not Alone program by visiting homebound seniors one day a week and calling them every day.
One of his more harrowing duties was during the Cedar Fire of October 2003.
“I was working all night to get people out of their houses and doing traffic control,” Hicks recalled. “People were loading their horses into trailers. That’s why the traffic jammed up, people were evacuating their neighborhoods.”
Courtesy Danna Atkins
Bill Hicks is shown cutting his celebration cake during a retirement party at D’Carlos Restaurant. (Courtesy Danna Atkins)
Hicks was recommended for the supervisory position by a sergeant who oversaw the program.
His wife, Margie, said her husband had been volunteering for nearly two years when deputies drove to the Hicks’ home to personally ask him to serve as administrator.
“Two deputies came together and asked to talk to Bill,” she said. “It wasn’t something Bill pursued, it came to him. They thought he would be a good leader and had the right demeanor to be in charge.”
Hicks said the administrator duties brought back memories of working as a manager for Texaco.
“I was able to supervise the rest of the volunteers and kept everybody working in the right direction,” he said.
Richard Wang, who replaced Hicks as administrator in 2024, described Hicks as a good leader who gave helpful directions.
“He is an overall nice guy,” said Wang, a Ramona resident. “I thought he was a great leader. He was always willing to answer questions and give advice that you might need. He’s always well-versed on the laws and regulations we need to know.”
Hicks says he’ll miss the camaraderie of working with fellow retirees.
But he plans to continue networking with his fellow Volunteer Sheriff’s Patrol retirees who meet locally the third Friday of each month to have lunch together and swap stories.
The Hicks are planning a trip to Mendocino in August to revisit the site where they were married in 1978. They’ve also set their sights on traveling to London and Switzerland to spend time with their daughters, they said.
The retirement party to celebrate their past, present and future together was like icing on the cake, they said.
“I was overwhelmed and it was beyond my expectations,” Bill Hicks said.