Susan Francisco

(From Brown-Winters Funeral Home)

Susan Dianne Hicks was born at First Baptist Hospital in Miami, Okla on Dec 11, 1958.
She passed away Thursday, Mar 21, 2024 at the age of 65, in the home of her daughter and son-in-law Jordan and David Gilstrap of Miami. 

She was preceded in death by her parents Claude and Margie Hicks, and an infant brother James. 

In addition to Jordan and David, Susan is survived by two older siblings: sister Jeannie Wells (me) of Miami, and brother John Hicks and wife Brenda of Anderson, Missouri. She has four nephews, four great-nephews, four great-nieces, and one great-great niece, whom she loved so much. This list would not be complete without mention of the close girlfriends she treasured since their school days.

I first saw Susan when our parents brought her home from the hospital and laid her on their double bed. She was beautiful, with lots of black hair, all combed up into a big curl on top, and her complexion was dark, like our dad's. When she stopped screaming, she had the biggest chocolate brown eyes. My mom said they had brought me a real live baby doll, and at the age of eight, I truly believed them... and for the past sixty-five years I have loved every moment I got to share with my little sister. It was mutual, we were best friends.... Soul Sistas, we liked to say.

We grew up in the southeast part of Miami, down by the old tennis courts and big pool. In summertime, we went to Parks and Recreation at Lion Taylor Park and swam in the wading pool there. Susan was chosen to represent Lion Taylor in the citywide bathing beauty contest in the summer of '63 and was so proud when she won the whole thing and got to wear a big crown made from a shortening can, glue, glitter and sequins, and a fancy crepe paper cape in the annual Pet Parade.

Our five-year-old beauty queen!

And nothing was more fun than getting to play with all our cousins... We were lucky as kids to have so many relatives, with lots of cousins the very same age as us.

Susan loved the teachers at Roosevelt Elementary, then later at Will Rogers JR High, she and other girls in ridiculously short mini dresses met and began forming the friendships that still exist to this day. During the 70's these friends attended MHS and wore bell-bottomed jeans that dragged the ground. In her room at home, Susan hung up hippie posters, threw her mattress on the floor, and got rid of the bed. She read Tiger Beat magazines and was in love with David Cassidy, Bobby Sherman, and Donnie Osmond. 

Susan worked at several part time jobs after school, including a short stint at the Glen Berry sewing factory, she also waitressed a little, and learned to arrange flowers at the old Duff's Flower Shop in Miami. She bought herself a car, and she and those same girls have shared wild stories of their glory days, dragging Main, trading boyfriends, swimming in strip pit ponds at the chat piles, working on their tans slathered in baby oil.

By the time Susan graduated in 1977, she was in love. On Dec 10, 1977, she married a handsome neighbor boy with long blonde hair, Dale Francisco. They were married 12 years before they were able to adopt a beautiful newborn baby girl born April 7, 1989, Jordan Brianna. 

During those years Susan ran a home daycare business and loved the little ones she cared for, but to finally have her own baby was her dream come true. Motherhood gave Susan her greatest joy. Years of driving Jordan to tumbling, ballet, cheerleading, shopping...Susan loved every minute.
So yes, life brings joy, but pain comes too. 

Susan developed diabetes at an early age, followed by a diagnosis of cirrhosis of the liver, then actual liver cancer. She was ill the last several years, and her health deteriorated fast the past year. She didn't complain and was never mean or difficult to care for. Just recently, she told me she was "content" and things were right with her and the Lord. She passed peacefully at her precious Jordan's home, surrounded by people who loved her.

I'm humbled by her grace and dignity. She was loved by many and will be missed.

Goodbye for now, to my Soul Sista. I loved you from the first moment. Jeannie

Visitation will be 10:00 A.M. Friday, March 29, 2024, at Brown-Winters Funeral Home and Cremation Service in Miami, Oklahoma. A memorial service will follow at 11:00 A.M. with graveside following at Grand Army of the Republic Cemetery in Miami, Oklahoma.
Friends and family may send the family notes of encouragement by viewing Ms. Francisco’s Tribute Page at www.brown-winters.com.