MANCHESTER, NH — Sandra “Sandy” Toryeanea Hicks died peacefully January 22, 2020, at home in Manchester at the age of 79 after a long illness.
Sandy is known for being the first recipient of the Martin Luther King Jr.Award in 1987 and also, in the same year, the recipient of the New Hampshire Unsung Heroine Award.
She moved to Manchester with her now-deceased husband, Wade, and sons Roger and Alan in the middle 1960s and, outside of a three-year period where she moved to California for health reasons, has called it home ever since. Very proud of her Native and African-American heritage, her family was very important to her. She celebrated her two sons and adopted daughters, Karen and Beth, seven grand children, two great-grandchildren and several foster children. Born and raised in Boston, MA, she was the middle child of five siblings.
