Dixon Ellis King was born December 22, 1935, in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, to Charles George and Hazel Folkestad King. He graduated from Park Rapids High School in Park Rapids, Minnesota, 1953.
Dixon served in the US Air Force in Biloxi, Mississippi. He sang in the men’s chorus and traveled all about the United States with them, winning many awards and their claim to fame was appearing on the Ed Sullivan show.
He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics at Bemidji State University. He taught for 12 years at Anoka, Minnesota, while earning a specialist in psychology at the University of Minnesota.
Dixon married Jean Forsythe of Park Rapids, Minnesota, in 1960 and raised two daughters Susan Lynn born in 1961 and Karen Ruth born in 1964. The girls both followed their parents into the field of education.
In 1974, Dixon and his family traded lakes for mountains and moved to Jamestown, Colorado, where they made their home until his death.
Dixon was employed as a school psychologist with the St. Vrain School District. In 1994 he and his wife retired, purchased a small motorhome, and for the next 20 years wondered about the United States just enjoying our land and one another. They learned to love the desert. That did not stop them, on one occasion, on the way to the desert, from going through Nova Scotia.
When age made it no longer feasible to travel, Dixon and Jean settled back into their summer home in Jamestown for a year-round experience again. In churches in Jamestown, Boulder and Allenspark, he sang in choirs. Simultaneously, he sang in the Golden Buffaloes Men’s Chorus at the University of Colorado. Dixon loved to be outdoors under the trees and hunting was, as he sometimes said, “an excuse to be out.” He was a very good hunter but not a good “getter”.
Dixon and his wife frequently said they were so blessed because each of them was married to their best friend! December 2020, Dixon entered hospice care to age in place forever, in the spot he loved best.
Dixon went to be with the Lord on March 14, 2021. He will cross the big park in his front yard to be laid next to his youngest daughter Karin, in the Old Jamestown Cemetery in May.
(Originally published in the April 8, 2021, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)
