James Harrod Dickens 1921-1999

DICKENS, FORSYTH, JACOBSON, PARTELLO, FITZGIBBONS, RASMUSSEN

Posted By: Merllene Andre Bendixen (email)
Date: 5/20/2012 at 00:43:04

James Harrod Dickens, 78
James Harrod Dickens, died Monday, August 30, 1999, at McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Services were held Friday, September 3, 1999, at Spirit Lake’s United Methodist Church with Rev. James Stiles officiating.

Interment was in Oak Hill Cemetery, Estherville.

The casketbearers were Joe Dickens, Joe Fitzgibbons, Kevin Fitzgibbons, Adam Forsyth, David Forsyth and Gordon Forsyth.

Military rites were provided by American Legion Post 23 and V.F.W. Post 4514.

Turner Funeral Home handled arrangements.

The son of Joseph and Theresa (Partello) Dickens, he was born August 20, 1921, at Boone. He graduated from Diagonal High School in 1939 where he was an all-state guard for the school’s state championship basketball team. He graduated from Simpson College in 1943. That same year, he enlisted in the United States Air Force where he was awarded the Silver Medal of Honor. He later graduated from the University of Iowa Medical School in 1951.

On June 1, 1945, he married Priscilla Forsyth. He practiced medicine in Des Moines for over 50 years, delivering an estimated 5,000 babies. He served as the chief of staff of Iowa Lutheran Hospital in Des Moines for two terms.

Mr. Dickens made his home in Des Moines but spent his summers in Okoboji and the winters in Longboat, Key, Florida from 1976-99. He married Norma Jacobson on October 20, 1998.

Besides his parents and first wife, he was preceded in death by his son, James H. Dickens II.

He is survived by his wife, Norma, of Okoboji; his daughter, Jane Fitzgibbons of Sarasota, Florida; his grandchildren, Kevin and Kelly Fitzgibbons and Joseph and Jaime Dickens; his sister, JoAnn Rasmussen, of Walla Walla, Washington; and two nephews and two nieces.

Mr. Dickens was a member of the United Methodist Church of Spirit Lake. He also was active in the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Family Practices. He enjoyed playing golf. (Spirit Lake Beacon, Spirit Lake, IA, September 4, 1999)