Four Generations of Dixons

With a fifth generation in full bloom, it's a good time to look back into the wonderful era of the 1980's to catch a glimpse of the Dixon clan. It's 1986, and the clan is at their annual Memorial Day get-together at Killbuck Park.

My Aunt Janet found this picture recently and Uncle Don forwarded it on. My particular sub-branch isn't there for this picture... and wasn't there for any of the Memorial Day picnics in the 80's... because Floridians didn't consider Memorial Day a holiday (it was originally a "Union" holiday!) and we had to conduct school on that day.

Yes, some of the babies in this picture are having babies! Our daughter Sarah, who couldn't join in the picnic fun in 1986, just had her third... Brody Lawrence Sain's his name. His brothers, Elliot and Zachery, can't wait for him to get big enough to play.

I hope we keep finding these old family pictures. And yes, a picure from the 90's is considered old now.

Can you identify everybody in the picture? Are you there?

From Anderson to the Wall Street Journal

It's not every day that one of your relatives has an article published in the Wall Street Journal. Or Barron's.

My cousin, Curt Thacker, grew up in Anderson like the rest of us. Then he went to Purdue. He wanted to become a vet. One small problem... he was allergic to the animals... steered him in another direction. He left Purdue with an Ag degree and went to work in the great midwest (we used to think of Indiana as the midwest) at Wilson Packing Company, a major meat producer. Then he switched to reporting on the industry.

I hope this very brief and inaccurate story will be expanded upon by Curt so you can read a very interesting tale about preparing for the unknown and making the most of a lucky break. Curt's interview in Chicago with a prospective employer is a great story.

He works for Dow Jones, which owns the Wall Street Journal and Barron's. Actually, Rupert Murdoch now owns it all. That Rupert Murdoch... the one who owns Fox News, the Dodgers, and most of the world's newspapers. (Since my daugher Sarah works for the NY Times Company, we pretty well cover the waterfront when it comes to journalism!)

Curt has reported on Ag markets for years now. He probably knows as much about the pork industry and markets as anyone in the country.

He recently wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal about Swine Flu. He also wrote one for Barron's, the magazine for investors.

I called Curt recently to let him know that I had found a book that described the WWII experiences of his dad's unit (including a couple of pictures of his dad and buddies). After we talked about the book for awhile, Curt mentioned the articles he had just written. Then I got him to recount his career moves, including the Chicago interview story. I didn't take notes, and after all... he's a professional writer... so I'll keep hounding him until he writes up the whole pre-vet, meat business, Ag markets reporter story so we can all read about it.

And did you get that teaser about the WWII book featuring Warren Thacker and his Scouts and Raiders unit?

Earliest Photo Appearance of a Grandchild?

This digital shot is a little fuzzy. I'll need to reshoot it when I get home. I thought I would go ahead and share it because I think it is the first grandparent photo with a baby boomer! The scene is the back of George and Della's house. It appears that the leaves have fallen for the year, but it still seems awfully bare. Where are the trees and bushes?

Standing are Jim, Lois, Jerry and Della.

Seated are Wilma and George.

And I'm guessing that is Rich in Wilma's arms.

Another Christmas at George and Della's

This is another picture of the grandchildren of George and Della Dixon taken at our Christmas gathering.

This is one of the earliest group shots of the "Baby Boomer Cousins", as John appears to be 2-3 years old. I found the photo in mom's collection of family pictures last month.

In the picture, Todd (on the left) and Lee (center), make up the middle row.

Down front are Joni, Tim, Jim, Cary, Tonia and Kent.

In back are Jay, Curt, Bruce, Rich and John.

Athletic Jay

I've mentioned that my brother Jay Dixon was a good golfer at a young age. And that he was a pretty fair little leaguer. But I forgot to mention his soldiering.

The tee shot is on the first hole, "Porch", at our home on Alexandria Pike. Notice the proper golf attire. That's me caddying. You can't see the strike zone outlined in the grout on the wall behind him. That came later. We all practiced our pitching skills on the front porch with a rubber baseball.

Jay practices his batting skills in the backyard of my mom's parents, Ralph and Bess Wellons. We always hit toward the pool and away from the house (and windows). The house behind him is that of my mom's cousin, Lou Canaday. Mom and Lou are "double cousins" and looked quite a bit alike.

Jay stands at attention on the back porch of the Wellons home on East Eighth Street, a few blocks from the the bypass. Mammaw Wellons is duly impressed. Or maybe worried about the guard having to wee-wee?

So What in the World is a Millwright?

Jay explains, with very slight editing from yours truly:

Lee, I applied for an apprenticeship after flunking out of GMI in the fall of 1970. Had to take a 4 hour test involving math, recognizing shapes that had been folded and then unfolded. Also had to choose three trades so your name went on a list depending on your point total on the test from high to low points. I chose Millwright, Toolmaker, and Electrician. I ended up being offered a Millwright apprenticeship first because my point total landed me higher on that list. Started my apprenticeship on May 3rd, 1971. I didn't take any of my vacation time and finished on Nov. 14, 1974. I tested out of general math, algebra, geometry, trig, and drafting thanks to GMI and good teachers in high school. All apprentices were laid off in Sept. of 1974, but thanks to no vacation time off, I was a journeyman and moved ahead of all of the others who started on the same day I did for seniority purposes. This would later be huge whenever layoffs came. The apprenticeship involved working with a senior journeyman for eight periods of 1800 hours and you had to work so much time on various tasks. Such tasks included welding, fork truck and cranes to move machinery, leveling machines, conveyors, etc. After completing the required number of hours with a journeyman (about four years), you were allowed to work by yourself, although most millwrights usually work in pairs because of safety factors. When your apprenticeship was over, and you could work alone and make your own decisions as to how to perform a job, you quickly realized how little you knew and mistakes came easily. A millwright's job description includes anything to do with conveyors (changing a bad drive motor or gearbox, replacing the rubber or metal conveyor belt, the bearings, drive chain, sprockets,or belts, adjusting drive tension, shortening or lengthening by welding or cutting torch, leveling or moving to another location.) We were responsible for all moving, rearranging, and leveling any and all machinery and office furniture in the plant. We rebricked ovens, heat treat furnaces, foundry drums, and brazing furnaces. I once crawled on my back into a tunnel of a brazing furnace into a hole 24" wide by 15" tall. After scooting with the roof about 2" from my nose for 25 feet, I could roll over and begin bricking the oven chamber. We built metal tables, cabinets, and platforms. A lot of our work involved either climbing or using a hoist to work in the overhead steelwork. We would weld bridge hoists and track of large I-beam and channel iron, hang fan towers, change the large filters on the air filtration for the plant. We maintained all blowers, large and small, large automated parts washers, welded for the electricians, and installed the drainage trenches. After the negotiations in 1985, Millwrights, Sheetmetal tradesmen,and Carpenters were combined into a single trade. Back to school I went to learn about carpentry and how to bend, lay out, and assemble sheetmetal ductwork. Now fabricating, repairing, and removing guards for the other trades became my job. Also replacing any air filters on the plant floor. I was also fortunate enough to teach the sheetmetal tradesmen a class I designed on Structural Steel Welding and Installation. Went to Cleveland and San Jose and passed certification in all welding types and taught welding to the toolmakers for two years. I was so fortunate that for 37 years I never was laid off, was never seriously injured or hurt anyone I worked with, and met so many wonderful people and a few total ***holes!

With that seniority, he was also able to switch to evenings every summer so he could play golf and then switch back to days each winter. FYI for the younger readers, I was the Assistant Superintendent of Schools (two steps above principal) in a school district, and Jay made more money than I did most years. We both worked a lot of hours, but a lot of my overtime was reading and writing in the comfort of home or supervising at a ballgame... not climbing into the steel or into enclosed, dirty ovens. Yet, the millwright gig sure does sound like interesting work despite the dangers!

I'm also quite sure that there would have been casualties if I had been a millwright!

Back in the Day

I always love to read the Beloit College "Mindset List".

Take a look at the Class of 2011 list... this year's college freshman class.

http://www.beloit.edu/~pubaff/mindset/2011.php

I actually used the list when orienting new teachers to the district... to help them understand that their students had a different mindset than their own.. due to differences in experiences growing up.

As a "Baby Boomer" cousin, here’s a few things we experienced, or didn’t experience... as we grew up in the 60's:

Yes, we had TV. We had exactly 4 TV channels! We watched the CBS, NBC, ABC affiliates, along with our beloved Channel 4, the independent local channel... home of the Stooges, Dick the Bruiser, the Indiana Pacers and IU Basketball. All of these stations went off the air late at night.

TV had two colors... black and white... until we were teenagers.

Cable TV... fahgeddaboutit... no ESPN, no CNN, no FOX, nada. Cable hadn’t been invented yet.

There were no school libraries in elementary schools. The PE teacher was also the music teacher and the art teacher at College Corner Elementary.

There were no microwave ovens. "Eating Out" was a very big deal.

There were no desktop or laptop computers. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were our age, remember? I saw my first computer (terminals, not PC’s) in the Indiana University Library in 1974. You had to be a computer science student to use them. I taught at a new school in Okeechobee and they were excited about the new electronic typewriters in the Business classes. Corrections were made with white-out... in other words, you painted over mistakes with white paint and typed over the spot.

Phones were rented from the phone company... and there was only one phone company in the country... Ma Bell (AT&T). Cell phones came along in the 90's.

We rode the school bus every day to school (cousins in town walked). For me personally, that included all four years of high school. Kids with cars were the exception.

We rode our bikes blocks from home as young children and miles from home during our early teenage years. We didn’t scare ourselves to death until much later when cable news came along.

There were no convenience stores. No 7-11, No Handy Store, no Village Pantry.

Gasoline was always pumped by an attendant while you sat in the car. Self-service was considered too dangerous and it came along to cut costs when the 70's energy crisis came along.

Gasoline had lead in it. It made engines run better, but it was poisonous. Oops!

There were no Mexican-American kids in our school or town. The great Hispanic influx didn’t happen until the 90's.

"Ethnic Food" meant Italian. We had a Chinese restaurant in Chesterfield when we were teens. No tacos, enchiladas or burritos for us as kids. We ate meat and potatoes.

The "interstate" was built when we were kids, but wasn't used all that much. It was located too far from town. Eventually, town moved to the interstate. My first day behind the wheel in Driver Ed was spent on I-69, because the instructor knew we wouldn’t have anything to run into out there.

The Reds played at Crosley Field until they built Riverfront Stadium for the Big Red Machine. We saw Willie Mays and Willie McCovey and Juan Marichal play against the Reds when we were kids. Then we saw Pete Rose (before he became an idiot), Johnny Bench and many others when the Reds ruled the world. Then they blew up the new Riverfront Stadium. Go figure.

We had AM transistor radios as kids. FM radio didn't arrive until we were teens. Our first component (as opposed to a cabinet style) stereos came along about the same time as FM Radio.

Music was on vinyl records and there were singles (45 rpm) and albums (33 rpm). Your older brother (or sister in Cary’s case) owned all of the good records and the rest of us "borrowed" them when the true owners weren’t home! CD’s weren’t invented until the 80's. Internet downloading? Did you read the part about no computers?

There were no significant numbers of foreign cars when we grew up. There were a few VW’s. No Hondas or Toyotas though. It wasn’t just because we were a GM family either. Folks owned GM, Ford and Chrysler cars. American Motors (AMC) and Studebaker were two of the last competitors to fold when we were kids.

The Indiana Pacers, formed when we were teens, were in the ABA, not the NBA. The coach didn’t give up his day job even after winning a couple of championships. He sold class rings to high school students (which is one of the most lucrative jobs in the world, by the way) during the day and coached the Pacers at night.

Chicago didn't have a pro basketball team when we were kids. Cincinnati did... and Oscar Robertson played for the Royals.

High School athletes, except maybe the wrestlers, didn't lift weights. There were no weight rooms in high schools.

Jeans were allowed (for boys), but we were discouraged from wearing them in school. Girls were allowed to wear pants in high school... a new thing.... if they were part of an ensemble called a pants-suit.

"Paddling" was the main disciplinary tool in school. It was often done just outside the classroom door so everyone else would hear (and learn from the experience).

Hockey and soccer were never played in school or youth leagues. There were also no youth football leagues. Soccer and hockey were not shown on TV. Pro baseball and basketball (except the Pacers) were shown once per week on a Saturday or Sunday. Sunday football on TV consisted of one game, usually the Chicago Bears.

We had two cars, but that didn’t mean that we used them that much. One was for Dad to get to work. The other sat in the driveway most of the time. A real treat was "going for a drive", which often meant going to the dairy to get an ice cream cone.

Halloween was one of our favorite times of the year (this may be limited to Jay, Todd and me). We threw field corn at cars and against windows of houses. We "soaped" car and house windows. We threw the occasional rotten tomato. And we told stories about other things that we didn’t actually do... some scarier and some funnier. In other words, Halloween fun consisted of stuff that would put you into juvenile detention... or get you shot... in today’s world. Trick or Treat had a more ominous meaning back in the day.

We were the first generation to grow up with druggies... although we generally talked the game, rather than participated in it. Drugs meant pot. Then as now, alcohol was the big problem. At my post-season football team party, I spent some time with Teri before heading to the party, and arrived after half of the team had passed out.

Two Pictures of Young Boomers

Back in June of 1956, when the top picture was taken, there was a lot of concern about the lack of girls in this group. Todd was born the month this picture was taken, although he doesn't make an appearance. But alas, Joni and Tonia would soon be on the way. I didn't realize that Kent, the baby in the picture, was that much older than Todd. That must be worth at least a couple of shots per round, eh?

By Christmas of 1963, the girls, plus Cary and John, had arrived. Here's a question... who is the proudest of their Christmas outfit or present that year? I have to go with Cary's cowboy outfit, even though Todd is definitely proud of that watch. I don't know where the muscle-shirt idea came from... Jay didn't seem to get the message that this was the 60's and not the 50's. I'm grinning because that new jacket, made out of that new material they just developed at the time, folds up into the center pocket. Wowsa!

Note the predominance of GI haircuts. There's a trend that came back with a vengeance in the last 10 years or so! And we fought so hard for the right to wear our hair long as teenagers. At least you can't see all of the white socks!

The Marriage of Rich and Shirley Thacker

Shirley recently shared some of the key details about their progress to the altar, and the marriage ceremony:

Leap Day is pretty special. Aunt Wanda Thacker had tried to get me to write Rich because she said he was so homesick. Even though we kind of grew up together . . . all of the kids at church... I didn't want him to think I was dorky. I had had a crush on him for a couple of years. Ha!

So on February 29, 1968 . . . I wrote the first letter, telling him how much all of the church kids missed him . . . and me too. That was the start of something big. Then on February 29, 1972 Rich gave me my diamond and said we would love each other forever. I gave him credit for being a romantic and remember that day as a special day. He just smiled.

We were married on Saturday, July 15, 1972 at Harmony Church, Matthews, Indiana. Uncle Wayne married us. Curt and Tim stood up with Rich. My sister, Linda, and my college roomie, Stephanie, stood up with me. Jim, John, and my brother, Ed, were ushers. Of course, cake/punch was the food of choice. I don't know when they started the meal thing . . . bigger expense for sure.

We drove away from the church trying to figure out where we would go on the honeymoon:) . . . Canada or Gatlinburg? Rich had to be back at work on Wednesday . . . so we headed south to Tennessee.

Seems like there were a lot of those cake and punch receptions back in the day!

I asked Shirley to tell us about their early marriage years. Here's her response:

After we were married, we bought a farm near Patricksburg on State Road 246. I taught second grade at Clay City Elementary. Rich worked at Sarkes Tarzians in Bloomington until he quit to go to ISU in Elementary Education. He received the Student Teaching Award in l977 and graduated in May, ’77. We sold the farm and moved back to Delaware Co in June of ’77 when Dad gave us an acre to build a house. Rich helped the contractor build this house. He was busy with the house and didn’t get a job. We lived on substitute teaching pay . . . not a good thing . . . for the Blizzard of ’78 didn’t give subs much of a chance. He did get a teaching job in the fall of l978 in Eastbrook School Corporation. He retired due to health reasons in l995. I began teaching in Wes-Del Corporation in 1979 and am still loving my job.

The Marriage of Lee and Teri (Mathias) Dixon

Teri and I were married the summer following graduation from high school and just after we turned 18, on August 12, 1972.

We were married at the Chesterfield Christian Church. A cake and punch reception was held in the fellowship hall of the church.

My "best men" were Randy Yust and Larry Swindell, my best friends since first grade.

Teri's bridesmaid was Carla (Heathcote) Clem.

We each had grandparents named Dixon in attendance. George and Della were there. But so were Teri's maternal grandparents, Clyde and Georgia Dixon, of Muncie. No relation to our Dixon's as best we can figure! That's right, Teri's mom was a Dixon. She even had a brother named Jim. Go figure. We were married on Clyde and Georgia's 50th wedding anniversary! They delayed their celebration one day and we stayed in the area to attend their celebration the next day before leaving on our honeymoom.

We honeymooned by tent camping at Pokagon State Park in Angola, Indiana. We left for IU immediately after the honeymoon. We lived in a married housing complex, Evermann Apartments, next to the bell tower (carillon) at IU. We lived there all four years at IU, upgrading after the first year from an efficiency apartment on the third floor to a one bedroom apartment on the second floor. The only problem was mostly losing battle with roaches. The building was large, with concrete block walls and tile floors. It was well heated, and we adjusted the temperature in the winter by cracking a window when needed.

We both worked at the Lucky Steer Steakhouse, the most popular restaurant in Anderson at the time, before we were married. It was the first restaurant in town to have something new... a salad bar! Teri made money as a waitress. I bused tables, was a dishwasher, and learned to cook steaks and prepare salads. I was able to transfer to the Bloomington Lucky Steer, near campus. Teri got a job within a week at the Marsh Supermarket south of town on Indiana 37, again making about twice my pay as her job was a union job! She worked there all four years, eventually moving into the office. I later worked at the Arbutus Nursing Home west on Indiana 46 and at Bloomington Hospital.

Teri worked the first year, delaying a full-ride scholarship she earned in high school. She started the next summer at IU and finished in 3 years. After our 4 years in Bloomington, there were no elementary teaching jobs in Indians and few science teaching jobs. So Teri went to Florida on a plane to interview in Okeechobee... her parents were visiting family in Florida on vacation and they were able to pick her up at the airport and take her to Okeechobee for the day. They offered her a job and me a job... sight unseen in my case. My job was a teacher aide job. They called a couple of weeks later and said they needed me to teach science.

The top picture (thanks Wayne!) shows us young, poor, recently married, and slightly tired college students at my grandparents house at Christmas in 1972.

The second picture above was taken in the fall of '07 at Table Rock State Park in South Carolina, where Randy and Deanna will wed in May of '08.

A Gowlfing Family

Top: "Alyson Palooza" Golf Outing, featuring Kent, Aunt Lois, Alyson, Tonia and Wayne

Middle: Brickyard Golf Outing with Bruce, Michael, Kent and Wayne

Bottom: Lee, Todd and Jay play a round with Chris before his marriage to Jay's daughter Rachel. After a couple of obligatory OB's by Chris, the wedding took place as scheduled.

Golf is the family sport.

And as far as my immediate family (the Jerry Dixon crew), Dad and I were the only ones not to master the sport.

That's right, my mom beat me at golf... and not just when I was a little kid.

My brother Jay is the alpha golfer in the family. He hits a golf ball like Larry Bird shoots three-pointers. It all seems like slo-motion... until the ball takes off.

Many Dixon's, and a few Thackers, love to play golf. Most took it up later in life. But a few started early. Jay, Todd and Kent are examples... all played on the Highland High School golf team.

My brother Jay shared recently how he got started in golf... plus a few stories (edited for a family audience, of course!) and listed the highlights of his golfing achievements.

Mammaw and Pappaw Wellons were the first to play golf in our family. Mom probably picked it up from them. Uncle Bob (Wellons) played later also. Mom played in the Grandview Ladies league for a number of years. She used to score in the high 80s and low 90s, pretty good in her day. She played until her back problems and arthritis in her hands made it too painful. I caddied for her in the Club Championship once. She lost that day but I did convince her to try to hit a shot through the forks of a tree on hole #17. She pulled the shot off, but lost on #18. I must have been about 13 at the time.

I first played golf at age 8. Mom took me out and I believe I used her clubs, which were too long for me, but I didn't know what I was doing anyway. I shot 82 on the front nine at Grandview and I was hooked. I hit a particuarly good shot on #5 that impressed Mom. The ball went about 150 yards. Mom didn't know until later that I had teed it up in the fairway when she wasn't looking! I played a round here and there with Mom and Pappaw Wellons at Grandview. The tees and fairways weren't watered back then and the tees had about 1" of dust on top of rock hard clay. Pappaw carried a ball peen hammer to drive his tee into the ground! Later we used an invention called a Pee Gee Tee which was a plastic three legged tee you could set on top of the ground. If I were lucky, Pappaw would buy me a new Po-Do ball before we started. Anybody remember those? When I got a little better at the game, I remember Mom hooking me up with the Grandview Ladies Champion and I aquired her old driver, a three wood, and a four wood. Dad had a set of irons but he didn't play much so he let me borrow them.

For my 12th birthday I got a season pass to play all the golf I could play at Boca-Re-Al, the 18 hole par three course on Cross street and the 109 by-pass about a mile from home. For a couple of summers I would load my golf bag on dad's Bag Boy pull cart, Jump on my Huffy bicycle and ride down Alex Pike past the Livestock Sale Barn to the 109 By-pass. When there were no cars coming for as far as I could see, I would pedal like crazy to Cross Street (the By-Pass was only two lanes back then but wasn't nearly as busy as it is now) and chug up the hill to the Golf course parking lot.

I played in an organized kids league on Wednesdays and they gave three new golf balls for first place each week. By the time I was 14 I could shoot from 59 to 64 for nine holes. During my high school years my birthday present was a membership at Grandview each year.

My freshman year at Highland I was the first alternate (five kids played on the Varsity) for the first meet, and was moved to the varsity the second meet, which was played in a Spring snowstorm at Tipton. With only a hooded cotton sweatshirt (Goretex came way later) playing for the Highland team didn't seem near as fun as I had imagined. When you putted, the ball would roll up snow like building a snowman and come up way short. Our third meet was at Elwood and we played in freezing rain while the Coaches watched the Masters in the warmth of the clubhouse. This was April 15th or so. I've never been that cold since. I shot 93 for the 18 holes and won both of my matches. I lettered varsity all four years of high school and was all Conference my Junior and senior years and MVP my Junior and Senior Years. We had good teams all four years and made it to Regionals my Sophmore and Junior years. I made some good friends including Mike McKnight, Randy Bodkin. Steve Hosier, and (name witheld to protect the guilty) (who sadly cost us a chance of the team going to the State Finals when he showed up at the coaches house the morning of the Regionals so drunk he couldn't sit up straight in the car on the ride to Richmond. He had broken up with his girlfriend at the Prom and got drunk and no sleep all night. He was our best player and a Senior at the time and I knew our chances were ruined when I saw him puking on the #9 green as I played the 5th hole.) Our team won 17 matches that year and lost only one... you guessed it... to state champion Marion. Don Bale, Mike Gentry, and Rod Windlan also were on the teams.

Some of my accomplishments in almost 49 years of golfing include:

two holes in ones (1972 and 1979; Pappaw Wellons actually saw the one in 1972 go in the hole!)
won the Madison County Junior in 1968 shooting a 61 at Meadowbrook (3 under par )
won the Madison County Championship in 1977, 1979, 1981, and 1989, and was runner up 6 times (Uncle Jim caddied for me in 1989)
won the Anderson City Tournament in 1987 and 1989 and was runner up 3 times
won the Indiana Match Play Championship in 1988 and was runner up in 1989
won the Edgewood Fall Festival in 1984 shooting 68, 69, and won again in 1989 shooting 65
led the Indiana State Amatuer the first day in 1981 with a 70 at Otter Creek
was runner up in the Indiana State Four Ball with Steve Barnett in 1983
was runner up in the Indiana Tournament of Champions in 1979 and 1987
won the Indianapolis 4-Ball with Jerry Steenerson in 1979 and was Runner up with Mike Bell in 1994
won the Ft. Wayne best ball Tournament in 1992 with brother Todd in 1992 and with Steve Barnett in 1982
won the Elwood Glass Festival shooting 65 in 1985 and 69 in 1987
was chosen a member of the Indiana Challenge Cup team (a Ryder Cup Event for amatuers versus the Indiana Pros) in 1986, 1989, 1992, and 1993
won the Killbuck Club Championship 15 times from 1973 to 1999
was awarded the Clifford Wagner Award for lifelong sportsmanship and character in 2003

The lowest scores I have recorded are 64 at Killbuck (3 times), 63 at Grandview, and 62 at Edgewood C.C.

All from a scrawny little kid who missed most of first grade because he was homebound with rheumatic fever! Although he was my "little" big brother, he actually was a sub on the Highland basketball team that beat some pretty good teams and was a star in little league baseball.

Let me summarize my own achievements in golf. With a few practice rounds, I have a better than even chance of breaking 100. I also can find my ball most of the time. I gave up the game early because I could never find my ball, even though it was in the middle of the fairway. That white clover made finding the ball very difficult. Jay still helps me find my ball when we play a friendly round. I usually have no idea where the ball goes after I hit it.

I hope that the other Dixon family golfers will have a few stories to tell about how they came to take up the game and their experiences.

Update... Jay adds more family golf info... including kudos to his caddies, and experiences as a golf official... and there is crying in golf!

Aunt Lois plays regularly at Meadowbrook.

Dad played with Mom occasionally until Mom started beating him regularly. Dad played with me a couple of times but he played more for relaxation and didn't seem to be real competitive by nature. Dad would always come out to the County Tournaments and follow me around. He was especially excited as he followed Todd and I in the IN Golf Assn Best ball and we won both matches that day.

Todd has played well in quite a few tournaments in Ft. Wayne and in the state tournaments. He was runner up in the Ft. Wayne City Tournament and has been in the top ten other times. He has also played in the Tournament of Champions, Indiana Four ball, and Indiana Mid Amatuer. Speaking of the Indiana Mid Amatuer... I forgot to mention that I was runner up in 1985. Todd also played well in the Indianapolis Open one year.

Uncle Jim used to caddy for me in some of the City tournaments and County Tournaments. He had a calming and confident effect on me and I think I won one County. one City, and a Edgewood fall festival with him on the bag. Todd and I have caddied for each other in tournaments.

In 1989 I replaced Steve Barnett on the Indiana Golf Association Board of Directors. He passed away from lukemia after a heroic three year battle. Other than family, he was my best friend in life, and an inspiration to me.

Most of the Dixon golfers would always get together and play the day before the Indy 500 and the Brickyard 400.

One of my favorite things to do is to be a Rules Official at tournaments around the state. I've officiated at the Womens Big Ten, The Womens MAC Conference, Boys and Girls State High School, and Indiana State Amatuers and Opens. It's both fun and rewarding. Once at the Womens Big Ten, a young lady from Ohio State University was about to take an illegal drop to the wrong side of a cart path. I stopped her before she hit the shot from a wrong place and told her she had to drop the ball on the opposite side of the path (There is only one nearest point of relief :the shortest distance). She told me she didn't want to drop the ball there because a huge pine tree was in her way and started to drop the ball on the other side again. I informed her that if she dropped the ball on that side of the path and hit it, she would be assessed a two shot penalty and if she completed play of the hole without correcting the mistake, she would be disqualified. I was only trying to help her avoid a penalty. Well, here comes the tears. She bawled and sobbed and cried until another official came over and confirmed my ruling. Finally after 15 minutes or so she finally quit crying, chipped around the bush, picked up her bag and gave me the dirtiest look for the longest time. I was biting my lip trying to keep a straight face and not burst into laughter. I could really feel the hate.

The Marriage of Curt and Kathy Thacker

Curt... the man with the moustache... was the second oldest of the Thacker boys and of the baby boomer cousins. He is also our family historian and geneologist. He supplied the picture and information for this post. From an earlier email, I know that when they got married, the kids ages were Sherry 13, Jay 12, Una 11 and Jill 7. Aunt Wilma is on the far left and Uncle Warren is in back. Kathy's parents, Nate and Pauline Rowen, are on the far right. You can identify the kids by age.

This picture was taken right after our wedding in May 1984. The simple ceremony was held in the front yard of my/our home near Tuttle, Oklahoma. It was a second marriage for each of us. With us were our four kids (two each) and our parents. It was a beautiful sunny May day. Afterward, Kathy and I went to San Antonio for a few days. We'll be celebrating our 24th annivesary in May.

We'll add more detail later, but they are the first of the boomer generation with enough detail to do a post!

Who Is This Kind Man?

Top: Rich at his dad's service station.

Middle: Rich with grandson AJ (the one in the Purdue sweatshirt!)

Bottom: Rich with his grandparents in 1968 or 1969.

Some family members may have seen this tribute to Rich before. I just read it for the first time. I might have never seen it except for the blog. I learned so much about Rich reading it. A lot of gaps were filled in for me. I knew the essence and most important point... that Rich was a kind man. Of course, Shirley says it in a way that only she could have done.

Thank you Shirley!



Who Is This Kind Man?

By Shirley Thacker

Who was this kind man? They compared him to a prince, a great man that had fallen in Israel. (Samuel II: 3:38) They said his time of departure had come. (Timothy II: 4:6) They said that he had fought a good fight, and finished the course. They said he was a good friend, a great American. Who was this kind man? He was a husband and father of two, grandfather of one. He was the eldest son, brother to four brothers. He was uncle, cousin, and friend to many. Who was this kind man? Was he king, dignitary, famous? He was an ordinary man that lived and walked on this earth for a few years, fifty seven to be exact. He had been a teacher, a caring man who wanted his students to be respectful, hard working, and know the basics of all subjects. Who was this kind man? He would be the first to say that he had many faults. Having somewhat of a temper from now and then, being prone to love money, and being too quick to judge would be three that he would mention first. He would be the first to say that he was just a sinner boy that he hoped would be saved by God’s grace and mercy. Who was this kind man?


He wanted his brothers to be proud of him. He wanted to be strong and a leader to them. He felt the pressure of being first born, and hoped they could learn from some of his mistakes. He told wonderful stories of the brothers. Curt (Helene Curtis) and his love for school, his bow tie at Christmas, his sharing a room with him was the brother next to him. He chuckled when he talked of Tim and his rag, disintegrating elastic in his shorts, and his sailor hat. He smiled when he talked about Jim and first grade, his boots, and of coarse the fan capturing story. And then he fondly remembers John, his littlest brother. He was so proud to fix a bike for him that he had taken apart and put back together. And the worst part of going to service was that John was grown up when he got back. That little guy that fell asleep on his lap while watching TV, he carried up to bed, had grown up those four years. Who was this kind man?


He loved being the eldest son, and working with his dad at the filling station. The life lessons he learned there were many. He was champion at making change, changing tires, fitting in with the chat and chew cronies that found time to come and spend time. He got to go more than the other boys and that made he feel very special. He loved the Cat House story, and grandma watching his dad whiz by with her car. Who was this kind man?


He had to repeat first grade. He always hated that, but he just didn’t figure out the game, called school. He knew there was much more fun going on at home. He learned and did well after that. He said, he really didn’t get the meaning of school until fifth or sixth grade, when the competition gene kicked in. No girl was going to outscore him. Studying became important. Chemistry was when he learned he needed glasses. He couldn’t see the periodic table. The teacher thought he was playing him for a sap. He asked if he needed this credit to graduate. A smart remark was handed to the teacher, but he realized that he couldn’t see it. Who was this kind man?


He went to Vincennes after high school because he thought his family wanted that. He thought about being a forest ranger. The other alternative was service. The economics’ professor was always reminding them to do well or they would be out, and service would no longer be a choice. He tired of the threats and decided to enlist. The Air Force was his choice. It was a long trip to Indy that day with his dad. One part wanted to be ruled 4F, the other wanted to serve. Several in front of him were turned down for one reason or another, but he was chosen. Who was this kind man?

He went to Lakeland,Texas; Biloxi, Mississippi; Naha, Okinawa; Ubon Thailand; Cam Rahn Bay and Tan San Nhut, Vietnam; Minot, North Dakota. He was a radar repairman. He tried to fix things with old parts, put things back together. He scavenged the planes that were down in Vietnam, and brought back the good parts. He didn’t go to work one day because he was sick. The hanger was hit that day; his chair had holes in it. He didn’t worry, he said, about being killed. He was just young and stupid was his comment. Maybe it was his faith in God, more than he knew. Who was this kind man?


He wrote letters and said little about his service life. There wasn’t much point in talking about it. He didn’t receive any awards, he was just an ordinary man doing his job, and counting the days that he could come home to Indiana and be normal again. I loved those letters and have kept them all these years. I wanted to get married when he came back home, but he didn’t want a service life for his family and he knew that I had one more year of school. So he wisely, took charge and we waited for his discharge. I wrote his first letter on February 29, 1968. He gave me my diamond on February 29, 1972. I gave him credit for being a romantic and remembering the important date. He said he was just lucky.


We were married on July 15, l972. He wasn’t sure what to think about all the girl moods and idiosyncrasies. Not having a sister was a disadvantage he thought. Even though he was not a romantic in one sense of the word, he was kind, caring, and gentle. He always put my feelings and needs first. We grew up from similar backgrounds which was a huge help in our marriage. We had the same religious background which was also a blessing. Who was this kind and gentle man?


He was so excited about being a daddy. First, Kimberly Richelle was born on December 29, 1973 and then Anna Kristin on August 31, l977. He would speak sternly, but he didn’t spank. He knew his own strength and didn’t want to hurt them. He left the disciplining to me. He loved to read to them. He loved to help them with school. He loved to ride bikes and take walks with them. He said on many occasions that he wished he could have done better. He wished he could take away all their hurts. He wished that he could have been healthier and stronger. He was most proud of them. Who was this kind and gentle man?


His greatest battle came on August 31, l981 (Kris’ fourth birthday). We were told that he had testicular cancer. Two days later, he had surgery, and the next day he began chemo at IU. Those were the darkest days of our lives, and yet they were the best of times too. We fell in love all over again, knowing we were in the battle of our lives. We put our trust in God, put on the armor, and fought the battle at hand. He just took it all, the poking, the meds, the throwing up, the loss of hair, the radiation, the exhaustion. At one point he gave up and said he couldn’t fight any more. About 15 min later there was a beautiful rainbow that we could see from Kim’s window. He said that was his sign from God and he would fight as long as God gave him breath. And he did just that, he fought until he had no breath left. He took three last breaths on June 8, 2005 and then he soared with the eagles. He had fought the fight, he had run the race, he had stayed the course. Who was this kind and gentle man?


He was my joy, my life, my soul mate. He was my true north, the center of my world; he was my life partner. Who was this kind and gentle man?


Richard Allen Thacker

The Diaspora

Economic conditions can really affect family history.

Just as George Dixon moved his young family from rural Albion, Illinois to the city of Anderson, Indiana to find work in the growing auto parts industry, many of his grandchildren left Anderson to find work or start careers in the economic downturn of the 1970's.

The generation in between, my parent's generation, was the definition of stability. My uncle Warren Thacker (Wilma Dixon Thacker) owned and operated a service (gas) station on Hwy 67 near Mounds Road. The Thackers moved when the boys were older... but only Rich finished high school in Anderson... to a farm in Spencer, Indiana.

My dad, Jerry (Mary Alice) attended Purdue for a semester, then finished an apprenticeship at Delco and later became one of the last non-degreed engineers at Delco. We lived on Alexandria Pike until my brothers and I moved away. Mom and Dad then moved to Wooded Ridge addition off of Pendleton Pike, just north of Huntsville and Pendleton.

Uncles Jim and Don both went to the General Motors Institute, a college operated by General Motors in Flint, Michigan. Uncle Jim (Lois) became a plant manager at Delco. They lived in a home in town and then moved to a new home off of Rangeline Road near Indiana 32.

Uncle Don (Janet) was a plant manager and then a corporate executive with Delco. They lived in an addition across from the current Walmart Shopping Area, west of Scatterfield Road (was Hwy 109 bypass; now Hwy 9). Then they moved to a new house in the Edgewood area.

For most of our growing years, except for the younger Thacker kids, the entire extended family lived within a few miles of our grandparents, George and Della Dixon.

My generation, the Baby Boomer cousins, enjoyed stability.... until we had to find work!

After Rich graduated from Madison Heights, he attended Vincennes University for one year. He then joined the Air Force and served in Viet Nam. Upon his return from the Air Force, he resumed his education at Indiana State University and graduated from there. He received his Masters Degree from Ball State University and found a teaching job near Muncie in the town of Matthews.

Curt went to Madison Heights High School through his junior year then to Spencer High his senior year after the family moved there. He attended Purdue University, graduating in 1972. After teaching school for one year, Curt joined Wilson Foods and in 1980 moved to the company's headquarters offices in Oklahoma City. Curt's job took him to Houston in 1990. He later left Wilson Foods and joined Knight-Ridder Financial News in Kansas City as a senior reporter on agricultural markets. This position eventually transitioned to Dow Jones Newswires.

Jay attended GMI for almost two years, then finished an apprenticeship at Delco. Because his seniority date tracked back to the day he started at GMI, the day after high school graduation, his seniority allowed him to retire last year without leaving Anderson. The company (Delco) was sold during these years, but his UAW contract offered security until the buyout came in 2007.

Bruce worked for GM also, but being just two years younger than Jay, he spent many years in Iowa and eventually transferred to a Saturn plant in Tennessee. In the process he earned a degree in Psychology. More on his career travels and a couple of other things in Bruce's own words via email:

Like Jay, I did get to take a year's leave from work as GM began to decline. I used that time to finish my college degree and started my graduate degree at the University of South Dakota. To keep working for GM I had to move from Delco-Remy (Anderson) to Muncie Chevrolet to Sioux City, Iowa and then to Spring Hill, TN as plants closed behind me ( I don't think there's a correlation with that.) My last ten years at GM I was a production supervisor. Now I work with Linda's father at his coin laundries, play golf and play piano once every 8 weeks at a couple of local Assisted Living Centers (a great audience, they never walk out on me).

Tim, after finishing high school in Spencer, worked as an electrician and machinist, and has been employed by the Indiana University School of Optometry for many years in that capacity. Tim is a Mr. Fix-It for anything that needs repairs and installs new equipment at the school and some other facilities at the Bloomington campus and occasionally at the Indianapolis campus. Tim and his wife are very active in the community and he has coached youth league softball.

Lee attended IU, then found that he and Teri could not find employment in Indiana as teachers, so they moved to Okeechobee, Florida and raised two kids of their own while educating a generation of kids. After Lee retired, they moved to Gainesville to be nearer to family.

Jim also finished high school in Spencer. Soon afterward, he was employed with the local power company and became a lineman. Later, Jim became a trouble shooter with the power company. He is the person who tracks down the specific location of problems with the lines, often caused by ice, wind or downed limbs and trees. In this position, Jim travels over most of the southern half of Indiana. Jim has become an avid golfer in recent years and has one hole-in-one to his credit so far.

Kent attended IU and then moved to Houston to work for Exxon. He still works for Exxon, but has lived in faraway places like Alaska and the Middle East.

Todd finished a two year program in accounting in Fort Wayne, then began work for a company that was bought by Scott Paper Company. Finishing his 4 year degree at St. Francis, he changed jobs several times (and sometimes changed companies without changing jobs), and eventually became an employee of Raytheon. Based in Fort Wayne until recently, he and Jill travelled the country for a 3 year period installing software in various Raytheon locations like El Segundo (in California near the LA beaches), Texas, and Boston. They finally settled in Raleigh, NC, where he became the CFO of a Raytheon subsidiary.

Joni became a full-time mom and moved with her husband Bryan to Houston. They spent several years in New Jersey, and finally moved back to Carmel, Indiana as he worked for large home builders.

Tonia attended IU and became a nurse. She worked mainly in Indianapolis and she and Wayne settled in nearby New Castle.

Cary graduated from Purdue in engineering and moved to Kentucky, where he works on large highway projects.

John finished high school in Spencer and has worked in the agricultural field throughout his career. He has been the manager of three farm cooperatives, and currently holds that position at the White River Co-op in Worthington, Ind. John also does some farming of his own plus enjoys refurbishing old tractors and other farm equipment.

Perhaps you noticed we have a serious IU/Purdue split in this generation!

Another thing that stands out is the change from stay at home to working moms. Both of my grandmothers, my mom, and all of my aunts on both sides of the family, were stay at home moms. Aunt Lois became the school secretary at Chesterfield Elementary for several years and mom worked at the Chesterfield Bank for a few years, but basically they were at home until we became adults. In our generation, Joni may have been the only truly stay at home mom. Teri was able to stay home until our kids entered Kindergarten (and was ready to go back to teaching when they went to school).

Although not a 100% change, most of the baby boomers, mainly for economic reasons, were not able to stay in the Anderson area. Jay was the only grandchild to spend his adult life in Anderson. I have noticed that Tim, Jim and John Thacker were able to stay closer to home in southern Indiana.

Anderson made the cover of Life Magazine, one of the largest weekly magazines at the time (owned by Time, Inc.) in the early 80's because the local economy was so bad. GM operations, which once employed about 17,000 people in two major divisions and about 25 plants (sites), will be completely shut down this summer. Even the buildings have disappeared as the company could not afford the heat bills and taxes. Much of the land has been donated to the city. An entire industry in a medium-sized city disappeared in one generation.

The two pictures at the top show all of the baby boomer cousins. The second picture is with our grandparents George and Della at their house on Christmas Day. Thus the rifles, dolls and cowboy outfits! I'm at the top in front Rich. Jay is to my right. Jim is to my left, between Rich and Pappaw Dixon. Curt is in front of Jay. Bruce is in the center in front of me and Jim. Mammaw is holding baby John. Tim is in the center between the two cowboys... Todd on his right and Kent on his left. Down in front are Joni, Tonia and Cary. I was confused for awhile about the other person in the picture... the one on Joni's lap and partially hidden by the arm of the sofa... until I realized it was her new dolly!

The first picture was the last picture taken of all of the boomer cousins. Based on Curt's memory... and the hair color evidence, it was taken at the dinner following our grandmother's passing. The ladies at Noble Street Methodist prepared a dinner for the family. First row: Tim, Rich, Joni, Tonia, Lee, Bruce. Second Row: John, Jim, Cary, Curt, Kent, Jay, Todd.

Fun and Games

What did kids do for fun when they visited their grandparents in the late 50's and early 60's?

Here's what I remember:

Drop the clothespin in the milk bottle.
Spinning a large metal top... the only toy on the premises that I recall.
Pulling or riding in a red wagon on the sidewalk on Noble Street.
A game of Old Maid... a specialty card game.
Playing on the stairs.
Playing catch on a nice day (including off of the garage roof).
Swinging on the bench swing listening to rock and roll on a transistor radio (bring your own).

And our most common snack... a sliced apple!

I don't remember a lot of reading material, but I do remember that they had a subscription to Highlights magazine, a kids magazine for young children often found in Doctor's offices waiting rooms.

Perhaps my cousins will recall some other games or playthings we enjoyed.

My uncle Don emailed information Aunt Janet remembered:

Our kids (my cousins Joni and Cary) always remembered Mother fixing jello for them which they liked very well. Mother would fix some with bananas and some without since Cary didn't like bananas.

How could I forget the jello (with bananas, of course)?

My Cousin Rich

Having declared our family "the nice family" in an earlier post, I have to mention my cousin, Rich Thacker. He was the oldest of George and Della's grandkids, or the "baby boomer" cousins if you wish.

Talk about leading by example! Though I never spent that much time with him, even when we were young, it was easy to know that Rich was exceptionally nice. As the oldest, the natural thing to do would seem to be to "rule the roost" or maybe to avoid all of us little rug rats. Especially with 4 little brothers to contend with every day and 11 males in the boomer generation at family get-togethers.

I think, and I've heard others say, that Rich was the member of our generation most like our grandfather. He certainly had the same shy laugh and smile. We was equally soft-spoken. And equally kind.

I believe Rich was the only member of our generation to serve in the armed forces. He was in the Air Force, and served in Vietnam servicing planes. His exposure to Agent Orange may have led to his death, although I'm not sure anyone will ever know.

He was the first of our generation to die. He was sick for a very long time, and had many setbacks along the way. He eventually had to give up his teaching career. I've had two teacher friends who had to quit teaching due to catastrophic illness, and I know that the decision to retire wasn't easy.

I probably had the least contact with Rich once we became adults. When Teri and I moved to Florida, we really missed most of the family events thereafter. Even though we came home every year for Christmas until the kids were in their late teens, we eventually stopped having the large Dixon gathering at Christmas as too many of us were out-of-state and trying to attend too many disparate family events. The last one I remember was held at an old building in Middleton. I also remember one of the latter gatherings was at an old reserve training center next to Shadyside Park on Broadway in Anderson. Those were always such great times. And one of the great things was being able to see Rich for a few moments.

I'll leave it to others to fill in some of the details of Rich's life and I'll pass the information along here and in the Wiki, once it is active.