Ralph Dixon

CLAXTON, Ga. - Ralph Adair Dixon, 99, died Sunday, December 28, 2014, at his residence in Claxton, Georgia. A native of Girard, Burke County, Georgia, Mr. Dixon was born on December 1, 1915, and graduated from Girard School in 1934. He graduated from Abraham Baldwin College in 1936, and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture Education from the University of Georgia in 1938. Moving to Evans County during March 1938, Mr. Dixon was the first vocational agriculture teacher at Claxton High School and taught there for nine years creating the agriculture department. He oversaw the construction of a new building containing the agriculture department, home economics department, freezer locker and canning plant. During World War II, the community depended on the freezer locker and canning plant to process food from their victory gardens. Mr. Dixon was one of the founders of the local Junior Chamber of Commerce in 1938, serving as director, and one of the founders of the Claxton-Evans County Chamber of Commerce, serving as its first president from 1953 to 1955 and again, from 1979 to 1980. He was a member of the Claxton Rotary Club since 1938, and honored in 1998, for 60 distinguished years. Named a Paul Harris Fellow in 1997, he served as secretary-treasurer, director and president from 1946 to 1947. Leaving his teaching career behind, Mr. Dixon started Dixon Motor Company, Inc., a John Deere dealership for agricultural and industrial equipment, on September 15, 1947. An automobile dealership for Studebaker was added in 1948. Mr. Dixon served on the Claxton City Council from 1962 to 1967, and was a member of the Pinewood Christian Academy Advisory Board during the school's first years of formation. From 1969 to 1973, he served on the Georgia Vocational Education Committee, which was made up of district agriculture heads, agriculture department faculty at the University of Georgia and leading businessmen in the state of Georgia. Elected to The Claxton Bank Board of Directors on January 20, 1956, Mr. Dixon was elected president on September 15, 1977. He served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Southern Bankshares and its subsidiary, The Claxton Bank, at his death. Active in a variety of civic organizations, Mr. Dixon served on the Claxton Housing Authority as a member until elected to the Claxton City Council and was a member of the Evans County Industrial Development Authority for many years. In 1998, the Evans County Wildlife Club Board of Directors named Mr. Dixon Grand Marshall of the Rattlesnake Roundup Parade. A land owner and conservationist, he owned several tracts of farm and timber land in Tattnall, Burke, Screven, and Evans counties. In 2002, Mr. Dixon received the Soil Conservation Evans County Man of the Year award. He was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Claxton and also served as Chairman of the Administrative Board, a member of the Board of Trustees, and a member of the Parker Family Life Center Committee. In 2004, he was honored by the Church at the re-consecration of the Parker Family Life Center for his strong commitment to its renovation. Mr. Dixon was preceded in death by his wife, Ruth Sane Dixon; his parents Francis Bartow Dixon and Joyce Ellen Malabar Dixon, five brothers, and five sisters. He is survived by two daughters, Daryl Ruth Dixon and Joyce Ellen Dixon of Claxton, GA; one son, Robert Sane Dixon of Claxton, GA; a devoted niece, Joyce Kelly of Louisville, GA; and many special nieces and nephews. The family will receive friends in the sanctuary of the First United Methodist Church in Claxton on Wednesday, December 31, 2014 from 1:30 pm until 3 pm. The funeral service will be conducted at 3 pm Wednesday, December 31, 2014 at the First United Methodist Church in Claxton with Rev. John B. Carroll officiating. Interment will follow at Brewton Cemetery, Hagan, GA. Pallbearers will be Gabriel Hodges, Adam Anderson, Mark Rush, and Larry Lewis. Our family wishes to extend our deepest expression of gratitude to Teena Burns and Martha Wilkerson for the constant care. Remembrances may be made to the First United Methodist Church, 401 W. Main St., PO Box 546, Claxton, GA 30417-0546; Pinewood Christian Academy, #1 Henry St., PO Box 7, Bellville, GA 30414-0007; and Brewton Cemetery, PO Box 978, Claxton, GA 30417-0978. J. Mellie NeSmith Funeral Home, Claxton, GA, 30417, (912-739-3338) nesmithfuneralhome.com, is in charge of arrangements.