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November 26, 2011
Nashville, TN - Allen Ricks, a long-time employee of the
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and Information and Education
Coordinator in the agency’s Region IV, has lost his fight after
battling a rare form of cancer for less than a year.
 Allen passed away Saturday, Nov. 26
2011 at his home in Morristown, Tennessee.
Allen had been with the TWRA for 32 years. He joined the agency as
a wildlife officer before moving into the role as I&E Coordinator
for Region IV’s 21 counties in East Tennessee.
He was regarded as having a vast knowledge of his profession.
Allen provided services and assistance to his fellow workers and
the public beyond what was expected. He was a huge proponent of
outreach programs that drew young people into the outdoors. His
ever-popular shooting trailer, featuring hands-on experience with
archery and air rifles, was a prime example of this. Allen was in
his element when working with scout groups, Future Farmers of
America, National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) Jakes events,
Becoming an Outdoors-Woman workshops and more. He was a very
devoted and dedicated employee of the agency and continued his
normal work schedule until very recently, when it became
physically impossible for him to get to the TWRA office.
Allen was born in Athens, Tennessee on July 3, 1949. He attended
Cleveland State Community College and received a B.S. degree in
accounting in 1971 and a B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries and
Science in 1978 from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He
received further education training at the Tennessee Police
Academy in Donelson.
He was involved in several organizations including the NWTF. He
was inducted into the NWTF Tennessee Chapter Turkey Hunters Hall
of Fame in 2010. He served as the NWTF State Chapter president
from 1995-97. His awards included receiving the Association for
Conservation Information (ACI) Communicator of the Year in 2002,
recipient of the Tennessee State Citizen Award, and the TWRA Area
31 Officer of the Year and Frank G. Clement Chapter of the F.O.P.
honor in 1980.
A long-time member of the Tennessee Outdoors Writers Association
(TOWA), he was honored by that organization with a lifetime
membership in 2009.
Allen is survived by his wife of 40 years, Susan. They had two
children; a daughter Jennifer Ricks Peters of Elizabethton and a
son Jonathan Kirby Ricks of Cecilia, Ky. He is also survived by a
brother, John Ricks and two sisters, Deana R. McCurry and Sharon
R. Thomas.
Allen was a member of the Manley Baptist Church in Morristown.
Funeral services will be held Monday, Nov. 28 at Mayes Family
Services in Morristown. The family will be receiving friends from
6-8 p.m. with the funeral service immediately following. Burial
and graveside service will be Tuesday morning at the Lenoir City
Cemetery.
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