January 20, 2011

John Raymond Dixon III, 78, died Jan. 20, 2011 after a long fight with cancer at his residence in Virginia Beach.

Born in Nansemond County, John was the son of the late Ruth Holland Dixon and John Raymond Dixon Jr., of Eclipse, Va. J.R. is predeceased by his half-brother, Henry Carlton Carter. He attended Crittenden Elementary School and Chuckatuck High School. He is an alumnus of Virginia Tech., and went to Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind. for graduate school.

J.R.’s career started in the U.S. Army, where in 1953 he worked for the U.S. Army Security Agency. He is a veteran of the Korean War. In 1956, he worked for the National Security Agency in Washington, D.C. He attended Officer Training for Lincoln Nation Bank in 1957, and then worked at Farmers Bank of Nansemond, First Federal Savings and Loan in Suffolk. J.R. served on the Advisory Board of Virginia National Bank in Suffolk. From 1962 to 1982, J.R. was the president and chairman of the board for First Savings in Suffolk. He was a founding director and chairman of the board of Home Guaranty Insurance Co., Inc. He also worked at D.B. Frye and Associate, Pomoco Auto Group, and Gold Key Resorts of Virginia Beach.

J.R. was a member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Suffolk, Va., where he served as Senior Warden, and the director of Episcopal Young Churchmen for 10 years. He was also a member of James River Community Church in Eclipse, Va. J.R. was the past president of the Suffolk Lions Club and the Suffolk Retail Merchants Association. He was a past member of the Suffolk Jaycees; he was a past master and 50 year veteran member of Nansemond Masonic Lodge 77. J.R. served as a member and chairman for the Nansemond City School Board for seven years, and was the chairman of Region B of Virginia School Board Association. J.R. also served on the Hampton Roads Educational TV Association and the Old Dominion Area Council Boy Scouts of America. In 1968, he received the Distinguished Service Award from the Suffolk Nansemond Jaycees, and in 1969 was awarded the Outstanding Young Men of America award.

Survivors include his loving wife, Carolyn Spires White Dixon; son, John R. Dixon IV, of Suffolk, Va.; daughters, Nancy Dixon Turner, of Richmond, Va., Maryann Dixon Boho, of Providence Forge, Va.; step-daughter, Ginger Lynn White, of Austin, Texas; grandchildren, Elizabeth Virtley Dixon, Sara Ruth Dixon, Sallie Penn Turner, Taylor Turner IV, Zachary Turner and Nancy Ruth Turner; sister, Emily Dixon Bandlow Hood, of Smithfield, Va.; niece, Bernadette Bandlow Umbenhaur, of Smithfield, Va. and Lenora Ann Carter, of Hampton, Va.; nephews, Bradford Richard Bandlow, of Key West, Fla., Henry Carter Jr., of New York.

A graveside service will be conducted on Sunday, Jan. 23, 2011 at 3 p.m. in Mt. Zion Cemetery by the Rev. Claude Marshall. The family will receive friends in the R.W. Baker & Co. Funeral Home and Crematory, 509 W. Washington St., Suffolk, VA 23434 on Saturday, Jan. 22, 2011 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Condolences may be registered at www.rwbakerfh.com.

In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting memorial donations be made to the charity of choice in memory of J.R. Dixon III for his kind and generous heart.