Vernon L. Dixon

Vern was born in Ontario, Oregon, April 8, 1949. He was the oldest of 5 children, 2 sisters and (Dee & Diane), 2 brothers (Rick & Ron). While growing up in Oregon the family moved a lot and he lived in Oakland, Wolf Creek, Medford, South Fork & Grants Pass. He lived in San Jose, California for awhile with his Dad. When we moved to Oregon in 1995 it added Carlton, Dayton & Roseburg to the list.

He worked as a Security Guard for awhile. He really wanted to be a California Highway Patrol Officer. He went through all the testing, reach the oral boards, which is the last step before the CHP makes their final decision in a person being offered the job. Unfortunately for him, he wasn’t one of the chosen.

In 1969 he began working at FMC (Food Machinery Corp), the Ordinance division in Santa Clara, CA. He became a Quality Assurance Inspection for Armored Personnel Carriers (tanks to you & I), until be retired in 1995 and when we moved to Oregon.

Beginning in 1997, we volunteered for the Yamhill County Sheriff Office. They had a travel trailer with various displays and we took it to events to Yamhill County beginning Memorial Day through Labor Day. Also, we drove vehicles in various parades. Vern would go on ride-a-longs with a Deputy from time to time. Other jobs included were Climax Portable Machines, in Newberg, Berenson in Tigard and his 16 years, until he retired, was Gormley Plumbing in McMinnville.

He was a fan of a number of sports including his favorite fishing. He also played golf and was a bowler. (Only person I ever knew that actually watched bowling on TV)! He was a fan of the Oregon Ducks, 49’er football, NASCAR, Oakland A’s, San Francisco Giants and the Portland Trail Blazer.

Also, one of his favorite things to do was to go camping. Our camping trips started with an old smelly canvas army tent. Aimee went on her 1st trip just after she turned 1. Over the years we worked our way through a number of different camping vehicles with our last one being a 32 foot Lakota 5th wheel. We enjoyed a lot of camping trips over 56 years together and found some great places to go. His favorite lake was Odell and 2nd favorite Lost Lake outside of Hood River. And he never wanted to go anywhere we couldn’t have a campfire. He loved his campfire!

In April 2024, Ed Gormley, his former boss and friend gave him a very special gift. I Rolls Royce golf cart. It had been made for “Gramps” (Candi’s Dad) many years ago. We drove to McMinnville to pick it up and once he got it home, he was the talk of the neighborhood. Some people may not have known his name, but they knew he was the guy who had a “Rolls Royce” cart.

We have a awesome daughter, Aimee, who he loved very much. Also, we have 2 awesome grandsons Christopher and Nicholas. Christopher was married in October 2024. Nicholas and Tiffany have been together for 8 years and now we have 3 great grand children, Lilly, Riley & Hudson. We miss not being close to all of them as they all live in CA. But thank goodness for cells phones, they keep us in the loop with frequent pictures.

He gave Aimee & I many good memories through his life to share and carry on. Daily life will never be the same without him here, but I carry him in my heart and always will. I’ve heard it said when you lose a loved one, like a spouse, you lose a piece of yourself. I know for me it is true.

To those who knew Vern, he will be missed. Our world will never be the same without him. But we all are thankful for him being a part of our life.

And to conclude, Aimee posted the following on Facebook (www.facebook.com/Missinglovedone). I copied & printed it to share with you.

When someone you love dies….It changes your life forever. It’s not something you “get over”. The loss becomes a part of who you are.