Port embraces family in tragedy

It’s been a week since Gracie Hicks, a Port Washington High School sophomore with a talent for art, died of injuries she suffered in a bicycle accident.

And as her family grapples with the unthinkable loss, they find themselves embraced by a community they moved into just a year ago.

“This past week has solidified everything we thought about this city,” Gracie’s stepmother Amanda Hicks said, noting she and her husband researched the area before moving here from Colorado last October. “I wouldn’t wish this pain on anybody. But everything that has happened, all the love and support, the donations — it’s been crazy. We weren’t expecting any of this. 

“This has been a really difficult time for us, and people are just reaching out to check on us. It’s been very much appreciated.”

Gracie was riding her bike on Grand Avenue in downtown Port about 5:10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 11, when she turned into traffic, darting out from between two cars in front of a Mitsubishi Outlander whose driver couldn’t stop in time to avoid striking her.

The 15-year-old was taken by the Port Washington ambulance to Aurora Medical Center in Grafton, then transferred by a Flight for Life helicopter to Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee.

She died at the hospital Thursday, Sept. 16. 

Gracie often rode her bike around the city, taking it to school and to locations around town. On Saturday, she took her bike to the lakefront and was apparently headed home when the accident occurred, her stepmother said.

As word of Gracie’s accident spread, her adopted hometown — she moved to Port to live with her father Adam Hicks and stepmother in December — rallied around her family in ways they didn’t expect.

There have been moments of silence at high school sporting events, collections for the family at local businesses, donations of gift cards, food and more. 

At the high school, a collection for the family has raised roughly $1,000, Principal Thad Gabrielse said.

Many of these fundraising efforts have been coordinated by Christy Loeffler, who lives next door to the Hicks family.

“It’s become a huge outpouring of support,” Loeffler said. “It literally seems like every day someone is doing something.”

Amanda Hicks said the family is overwhelmed by people’s generosity. 

“We have no words. I could say thank you 100 times and it wouldn’t come close,” she said. “To say this community has come together for us — and they don’t even know us — says a lot. It has helped us tremendously. It means more than we could ever explain.”

Gracie was born on July 18, 2006, in Ohio. She lived in Florida with her mother and stepfather, Charla and Justin Wilson, and her sisters Ava, 12, and Emma, 14, until moving to Port to live with her father and stepmother. 

Loeffler described Gracie as a bubbly girl who had a wonderful smile. She loved sunflowers and art, and she was very close to her extended family.

Gracie described herself as an introverted girl, her stepmother said, adding she was “crazy talented.”  

“Her artistic ability was out of this world,” Hicks said, noting Gracie took four art classes at Port High this year and wanted to major in graphic design in college. “We wouldn’t see her for hours, then we’d go to her room and find her there drawing.”

Last year, she said, Gracie made her mother a calendar with her mermaid drawings that looked as if it had been purchased in a store.

She also loved anime and enjoyed crafts, everything from making chunky knit blankets to making jewelry. 

Gracie was a bright girl who was excelling in school and loved her classes, Hicks said.

While Gracie described herself as an introvert, Gabrielse said she had a close-knit group of friends in her art classes.

“She was quiet and reserved, but her friends would tell you otherwise,” he said.

On Friday, they came together in the art room and shared memories as a television screen displayed photos of Gracie’s art. They used a collection of her artwork to create a memorial in a cubbie in the room.

Gracie’s mother, father and stepmother stopped at the school and visited the art room, meeting Gracie’s friends and sharing memories, Gabrielse said.

“It was hard. It was difficult. It was sad,” Gabrielse said. “But it was an important thing to have happen for the healing to start.”

Hicks said the visit was good for the family and the 10 to 15 students, some of whom finished pieces of Gracie’s artwork.

“They cried. We cried. By the time we left, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room,” she said. “We didn’t realize the community Gracie had built at school.”

Many of the students had sent texts to Gracie while she was in the hospital, and one sent a stuffed animal that Gracie had with her when she died.

When Gracie died, her family donated her organs — her kidneys, liver and pancreas.

“Gracie saved probably four to six people that night,” her stepmother said. “It’s a hard decision because you know you’re losing someone you love, but knowing you’re about to save however many people from this makes it easier.

“I told her before she passed that she was a hero.”

Although the family plans an intimate funeral for Gracie in Florida, they are also planning a candlelight vigil for Gracie in Coal Dock Park at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 30.

“We want to do something for the community and the high school,” her stepmother said. “We want to say thank you to everyone and to give them a time to say goodbye to Gracie.”