Joshua Dickinson Jr.

DICKINSON JR., JOSHUA CLIFTON



Joshua C. Dickinson Jr. passed away at his home on January 21st. He was 92 years old. "J.C." was born April 28, 1916 in Tampa, FL to Mary Martin Dickinson and Dr. Joshua C. Dickinson.







He came to Gainesville and the University of Florida as a freshman in 1934 where he earned his BS, MS and PhD in biology and served as Professor of Biology and then as Dean and Director of the Florida Museum of Natural History from 1961 until his retirement in 1979. His was a lifetime dedicated to the University and its Museum. With the largest ever National Science Foundation museum construction grant and matching funds from the legislature and private donations, he led the fund-raising drive to build the Museum's first permanent home on campus, now Dickinson Hall on Museum Road. Under his leadership the Museum grew to become one of the top 10 institutions of its kind in the country. As a measure of his ongoing commitment to the museum, he endowed the Miss Lucy Dickinson Fellowship in Vertebrate Paleontology in memory of his wife of 62 years, Lucy Jackson Dickinson.







Like so many of the Great Generation, he served during WWII with the US Coast Guard, first as Captain of a remote base in St. Marks, FL, then on the icebreaker Westwind, and the General Altman, a troop ship plying the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.







J.C. was appointed by President Ford to the board of the National Endowment for the Arts, serving from 1976 to 1982. He established the Archie F. Carr Medal in 1979 in honor of his life-long friend. Fittingly, the two buildings bearing their names stand side by side. He joined the Gainesville Rotary Club in 1962 and was the club president 1967 - 1968.



He specialized as an ornithologist early on, was a founding member of Florida Audubon, an excellent wingshot, and a dedicated fisherman together with his friend and colleague Robert Bryan.







He is survived by his wife of eleven years Sally Dickinson, whose love contributed much to his longevity. His children and their spouses all live in Gainesville; Susan Ellissa Iserhardt, Martin F. Dickinson, and Joshua C. Dickinson III. J.C. is survived also by grandsons Adrian, Chris, Owen and Matthew and by great grandchildren Christian, Zoe and Zachary.



A memorial service for Joshua C. Dickinson Jr. will be held at Dickinson Hall on Museum Road at 3 PM on Sunday, January 25th, 2009.



In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Florida Museum of Natural History c/o Ms. Sue Jarzen, P.O. Box 112710, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-2710.



Arrangements are under the care of MILAM FUNERAL AND CREMATION SERVICES, 311 South Main Street, Gainesville, FL (352) 376-5361