Robert Dixon

Robert Dixon passed away on Thursday, December 7 after a long battle with congestive heart failure.  He was 87 years old.  Born and raised in Provo, Utah, he was the eighth of ten children of Arnold and May Dixon.  He was gainfully employed from age 12, working for three hours each night after school at D.T.R. Furniture Company, where he continued to work until he graduated from college.

At the Manti Temple in May of 1951, He married his sweetheart of three years, Genniel Larsen, while attending BYU. He received both a Bachelor’s Degree and a Master’s Degree from BYU.  He excelled in the four-year Air Force R.O.T.C. Program at BYU where he became a Flight Commander with the rank of Cadet-Major.  He was not called up to active duty because the Korean War had ended and the Air Force was downsizing.

Bob taught at Timpanogos Elementary School for 35 years, mostly 5th grade.  He really enjoyed being a teacher.  As a summer job, he ran Dixon Spray Service for 6 years, after which he became the director of the Timpanogos Community School Recreation Program.  The girls' softball teams that he coached won first place in multiple seasons.  He refereed flag football and taught math and reading in the summer school program. His community service included serving as chairman of the Credit Committee of the Provo School District Credit Union and serving as a delegate to the Utah Education Association and to the National Education Association, and as a county delegate in the Republican Party.  He was a faithful member of the LDS church and served in numerous callings.

He had a broad variety of interests and a special gift for instilling a thirst for knowledge in others.  He had insect, plant, rock, mineral and fossil collections that he used to teach his students, children and grandchildren.  He had several complete HO train sets with a large permanent set-up in the basement as well as a train around the Christmas tree each year.

After retiring, he grew a beard and became an extra and sometimes a featured extra in 30 films, including a History Channel documentary on the Dead Sea Scrolls, several episodes of Touched by an Angel, and multiple LDS church films including The Lamb of God and The Mountain of the Lord.  Bob’s greatest love and greatest legacy is his family, including his beloved deceased wife, Genniel, four children and their spouses (Steven and Emarene, Denise and Mark, Norman and Patrick, Angela and Randall), as well as 9 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren who affectionately refer to him as “Grandpa Beard”.  He was a faithful, kind, soft-spoken man who without a word of complaint served and cared for his wife to the point of extreme exhaustion during the last two years of her life.  The sparkle in his eyes, his smile and sense of humor continued to uplift us until the day before he died, when he could no longer open his eyes or speak.  His legacy will live on in the hearts of those of us who knew him well and loved him.

Funeral services will be held at Sundberg-Olpin Mortuary at 495 S. State St. in Orem at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, December 16, with a viewing on Friday, December 15 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. and at 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. prior to the funeral.

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