Northwest Superintendent David Hicks remembered as ‘gentle giant’

David Hicks was known as a “gentle giant” by his colleagues and former students, who remember him arriving at school in a tiny red car and greeting everyone with a smile. He kept in touch with those students and colleagues throughout his career in school districts across North Texas, including Northwest ISD, where he was recently hired as superintendent. Communities across North Texas are mourning this week, after Hicks died unexpectedly Friday, following a medical emergency, according to a statement from the district. He was 55. “Everyone really actually liked him as a principal, where sometimes kids are not the fondest of principals,” Terri Truong, a former student, said.

“He was like a gentle giant in the sense of like, he was … massive, tall,” she said. “He was so gracious. And he just had such a warming presence where everyone just felt so appreciated.” Truong was one of many who spoke to the Star-Telegram about the enduring presence Hicks had in their lives, from his time as a principal when she was a student through the process of her becoming an educator and teaching at a school he formerly led. She called it a “full-circle moment.” Hicks encouraged that cycle for many students over the course of his career, spanning more than three decades. “He simply took the time to show you he cared. He knew your names,” a Sherman parent said in a comment on the Sherman school district’s Facebook page. “He told my son time and time again to make sure he came back to Sherman to teach after college.” The last time Truong saw the educator was in 2019, when Hicks returned to a middle school where he had been the principal to celebrate the anniversary of the school opening.