Lesli Louise Hicks was born on January 16, 1963 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She grew up in a subdivision in a small community of Northwest San Antonio. She was raised in a religious home and attended Hope Lutheran Church. Ms. Hicks was very active in high school with her participation in a German Club, and also won Miss Leon Valley. Her father, Edward Ross Hicks, an Army Lt. Colonel, was stationed in Europe for five years along with the family. Because of her time spent in Europe, Lesli could speak some Dutch and understood German well, which helped her in her German Club in high school. Ms. Hicks graduated from high school in 1981. In January of 1982, she began college at the University of Texas at San Antonio, later transferring to the University of Texas at Austin in the fall of 1983. Ms. Hicks graduated from UT Austin in 1986 with a Bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts with emphasis in government and a minor in journalism. She married in 1988 and adopted a 10-month-old child from China in February of 2000.
Martha Carolyn Schultz Hicks, Lesli Hicks's mother, was a stay at home mom who participated as a Girl Scout Troop leader for a while. Martha Hicks obtained an associate's degree from San Antonio College and went back to school during the 1970s at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She received a degree in Sociology in 1979 and went on to get her master's degree in Public Administration.
J.R. Beane, Lesli's husband's maternal grandmother, grew up in the first quarter of the 20th century. Mrs. Beane was very interested in learning how to sew. She completed a correspondence course, which included tailoring, sewing, and dressmaking and stayed in constant contact with her instructors.
Adelaide Woodlee was Ms. Hicks's great, great-grandmother. She was born in 1864 and traveled with her family to Texas shortly thereafter. Ms. Woodlee died in 1960 at the age of 96.
From the guide to the Hicks Family Papers, MS 133., 1922-2002, (University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections)
