Richard Dixon

Obituary for
Richard Hill Dixon

Richard Hill Dixon
March 19, 1939 – November 22, 2016

A life well lived, a man well loved. His gentle strength, humor, boundless work ethic, strong integrity, and talent as a husband, brother, father, grandfather, great grandfather, and friend to everyone will be missed.

With heavy hearts we announce the passing of Richard Hill Dixon, age 77, who passed away at Utah Valley Hospital in Provo, Utah Tuesday, November 22, 2016 after a valiant and hard-fought battle with leukemia.

Richard was born on March 19, 1939 in Tucson, Arizona, to Ralph Dixon and Myrtle Mary Jones Dixon as the oldest of ten children. After two years in Tucson, the family moved to Soda Springs, Idaho, and eventually settled in Ogden, Utah where his father worked for the Union Pacific Railroad. He worked with his father in the family business, Dixon Windowing Cleaning Company, from a very young age and later to earn enough money to go to college.

He graduated from Weber State College with a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Manufacturing Engineering. He was a Professional Engineer and had a Certified Manufacturing Engineer Certificate. He was recruited out of Weber State College to work for Ford Motor Company in Ypsilanti, Michigan. While living in Michigan, he worked on an MBA Degree at Wayne State University in Detroit.

With his classic mechanical mind, he loved seeking the next big challenging engineering problem, and as a result had the opportunity to work for several excellent companies. He worked at Honeywell in Minneapolis, designed the first round corner window design for Winnebago in Forest City, Iowa, he worked for several housing and mining companies in Denver that required an engineer designing production machines and mining equipment. He worked for Coors in Golden, Colorado as part of the team that designed the first aluminum cans. He designed the manufacturing assembly line and has his name on the patent which is still used today. He worked at Kremco Co. in Ogden designing oil rig cranes, and he worked for Animate Systems, Inc., which is an off-shoot of the University of Utah Robotics Program in Salt Lake City where he designed the robots for the Pirates of the Caribbean amusement ride at Disney World, as well as several projects for the U.S. Navy for their under-water robotic arm experimental program. He was recruited by Megadiamond in Provo where he worked as Engineering Manager for five years and was then hired by Dymicron, Inc. in Orem, Utah where he was currently employed as Principal Engineer and had always considered the people he worked with for almost twenty years his family. He could truly say he loved going to work every day. He is the author and co-author of over seventy patents.

He married Marsha Mary Waters August 31, 1957 in Ogden, and they were later divorced. He married Sandra Williams June 17, 1966 and together they celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary this last June.

He was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints serving in several capacities, his favorite being a Boy Scout Leader for over 35 years. He served two Stake Missions in the Lakewood Colorado Stake in Lakewood, Colorado.
He became interested in learning the Spanish language and served on his lunch hour as a mentor and teacher in the ESL Program at Dixon Middle School for three years.

Richard loved cycling and could be found on many weekends making a trip up the Provo Canyon Trail. He rode seventy miles around West Mountain with his sons, daughter-in-law, and great grandson on his seventieth birthday. A few years ago he decided to participate in the Senior Games in St. George in the cycling event. He trained diligently, and his efforts paid off when he won second and third in his age group for Cycling and the Criterion.

When he picked a project, he studied it to the fullest. In the last several years, he became interested in rebuilding, refurbishing, and tuning pianos. He belonged to the Piano Technician’s Guild. Nothing was ever too tough to tackle. If he didn’t know how to do it, he would study it, read books, check the internet, and leave no stone unturned. He also played the piano.

Richard is preceded in death by his father, mother, and brother Michael Dean Dixon. He is survived by his wife, Sandra, his children Kerry (Nancy) Dixon of Farr West, Utah, Rick (Christy) Dixon of Draper, Utah, Coby Allen (Denisse) Dixon of Lehi, Utah, and Sabra Mary Dixon of Provo Utah, his brother Douglas James Dixon (Jeanne) of Bull Head City, Arizona, his brother David Ralph (Gloria) Dixon of North Ogden, Utah, his sister Linda Lee Dixon (Val) Staker of Taylor, Utah, his sister Patricia Anne Dixon (William) Welsh of Ogden, Utah, his sister Deborah Carol Dixon (James) Erickson, West Haven, Utah, his brother Kim (Debbie) Dixon, of Layton, Utah, his brother Scott (Marcia Ann) Dixon, of Roy, Utah, and his sister Mary Kaye Dixon of Ogden, Utah, eleven grandchildren, and 18 great grandchildren.

The Dixon family wishes to thank the medical staff at Utah Valley Hospital for their excellent medical care over the past few weeks. Our family is truly grateful for their compassionate support to our husband and father.

Funeral services will be Tuesday, November 29, 2016, at 11:00 a.m. in the Edgewood Ward building at 3511 North 180 East, Provo, Utah with a viewing just prior to the funeral from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. A viewing will be held at Nelson Family Mortuary, 4780 North University Avenue, Provo, Utah, on Monday evening from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Interment will be at East Lawn Memorial Hills at 4800 North 650 East, Provo Utah.

Condolences and remembrances can be shared online at www.NelsonMortuary.com.