Priscilla Ann Purdy Sticksel

Priscilla Ann Purdy Sticksel was born December 19, 1942, to Walter and Esther Purdy in Natchitoches, Louisiana. She went to meet the Lord on August 19, 2024.

The Purdy family moved from Louisiana to Houston, Texas, which is where Priscilla grew up. She attended TCU then finished her education at the University of Houston, where she met the love of her life, Hugh Sticksel. (He picked her to represent his fraternity at the Bluebonnet Bowl as a queen candidate and she went on to be crowned queen.)

Priscilla completed a BA in education and she and Hugh wed on December 19, 1964. After marriage the couple returned to Hugh’s hometown of Amarillo, where they settled down and Hugh practiced optometry while Priscilla worked as a math teacher. Shortly thereafter the couple had their first child, Scott (November 5, 1968) and four years afterward, their daughter Heidi (September 21, 1972). 

With two children, Priscilla put teaching behind her and embraced a life of parenting and volunteerism. This meant a life of going anywhere and everywhere for Hugh, Scott, and Heidi. And her volunteer work, while demanding, never hindered Priscilla in being there for her kids, setting an example both of service to the community and dedication to the family. Priscilla’s heart for volunteering was so great that it is difficult to explain in just a few words. One of her dear friends said, “She was the idea behind the action, the organizing force uniting people of like minds and purposes, and the energy pushing any enterprise forward. And she sought no attention or gratitude for her many accomplishments, she just remained ready to help with whatever effort might be needed for the success of a project or organization.”

She volunteered with the Junior League of Amarillo, eventually becoming president, and she was the treasurer for numerous other organizations.

The list of organizations with which she volunteered included Crocket Junior High PTA, Tascosa Booster Club, Tascosa Excellence Council Foundation, the Amarillo Symphany Guild Board, Amarillo Junior Olympic Volleyball Association, and the Community Prayer Breakfast, among others. 

She was also secretary of Tri Delt Alumnae and served as a math mentor.

Priscilla was a member of the Amarillo College Foundation Board, Chairman of the Hugh Sticksel Memorial Scholarship Fund, part of the Centennial Committee of the Palo Duro Club, active in the Daughters of the American Revolution, and served with Habitat for Humanity. She was also moderator of the Presbyterian Women Board of Deacons. 

Priscilla and Hugh were named ‘Parents of the Year’ at University of Houston, where both Scott and Heidi completed their undergraduate work. 

Her grandchildren brought her so much joy. She served on the Panhandle Down Syndrome Guild for years after her granddaughter, Hadley Louise Hawkins, was born. She set up cousins camp at the Palo Duro Club, seeking every possible way to bring family together. She loved every second she got with her grandchildren Shelby, Hadley, Hayden, and Howdy. 

Priscilla continued to believe in the importance of family to such a degree that she built onto her home to make sure every child and grandchild for generations would have a place to come and be loved. 

During her final months on earth she could be found singing in her wheelchair with red lip stick on (and more red lip stick attached to the chair so she had it when she wanted it). 

Priscilla, whom her family fondly referred to as “Sticky,” was preceded in death by her parents, Walter and Esther Purdy, her husband, Hugh Sticksel, her son, Scott Allen Sticksel, and two brothers-in-law, John Charles Sticksel and William Sticksel. Survivors include her daughter, Heidi Hawkins, her husband, Dr. AWR Hawkins, and her grandchildren, Shelby Sticksel (fiancé Doug Bliss), Hayden Sticksel, Hadley Hawkins, and Howdy Hawkins, sisters-in-law Mary Nell Lemert (husband Rex Lemert), Michaele Sticksel, and Susie Sticksel. 

Many wonderful nieces and nephews survive Priscilla as well, as well as wonderful Bohn family members from Louisiana. 

Priscilla will be missed dearly, but her love of the Lord and people, as well as her servant’s heart, will live on to inspire family and friends and all who knew her. 

As Priscilla’s family, we want to express gratitude for the years of sweet care provided by Ermelinda Reyes, Anita Locke, True Blessings, Good Care, Marla’s Home, A Caring Heart, Moore Assisted Living, and Lone Mountain Memory Care. Each contributed to Priscilla’s joy and comfort in ways that cannot be overlooked or focused upon too much. We would also like to thank Rex for the wonderful care and oversight he showed Priscilla in her last years. 

Visitation will be Wednesday, August 28, 2024, from 5-6:30 p.m. at Boxwell Brothers Funeral Home. A Celebration of Life Service will be at First Presbyterian Church at 11 a.m., Thursday, August 29, 2024. Burial will be private. We are requesting that EVERYONE WEAR RED ATTIRE of some sort (which Priscilla loved). 

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Hugh Sticksel Memorial Scholarship at Tascosa High School. Please make checks payable to Amarillo ISD with Hugh Sticksel Memorial Scholarship in the memo line. Mail checks to AISD Accounting Department, 7200 I-40 W., Amarillo, Texas 79106-2598, or The Word at Work (mission group) at 1400 Wolflin Ave., Amarillo, TX 79109.