Robert Donald DIXON

DIXON, BLINKINSOP, CREW, NISSEN, GAHRING, SAUNDERS, KLUSER

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 3/24/2008 at 08:48:57

SHELDON, IOWA—Robert Donald Dixon, age 86, of Sheldon and formerly of Rolfe, died on November 14, 2005, at the Northwest Iowa Health Center–Senior Care in Sheldon. Most people knew Mr. Dixon as either “Bob” or “R.D.” His services were held on November 18, 2005, at the United Methodist Church in Sheldon with the Rev. Marvin Lindley officiating. Burial was in the East Lawn Cemetery in Sheldon with a military graveside service by the: Sheldon American Legion, Post 145. The Vander Ploeg Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.

Robert Donald Dixon, the son of Robert C. and Bess (Blinkinsop) Dixon, was born December 3, 1918, in Belle Plaine, Iowa. He attended school in Belle Plaine and graduated from Belle Plaine High School in 1935. He also graduated from Belle Plaine Business School and the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

Bob started his banking career in Galt, Iowa. He then joined the United States Navy and served during World War II. He was united in marriage to Janet E. Crew on August 12, 1944, in Vinton, Iowa. After his military service, he continued his banking career in Iowa. He worked in Clarion, Stratford, and finally at the Rolfe State Bank from 1951 until 1995, when he and Janet moved to Sheldon. Bob continued as the chairman of the board for both the Rolfe State Bank and the Citizens State Bank of Sheldon–Boyden until the time of his death. While living in Rolfe, Bob was an active member of the United Methodist Church and the Masonic Lodge. He was a former president and longtime member of the Rolfe Lions Club and a member of the board of directors of the Rolfe Community School District. He was one of the founding members of the Iowa Independent Bankers Association and was currently a director emeritus of that group. He was an avid golfer, and on numerous occasions was the champion of the Rolfe Golf Club and the Pocahontas County Tournament. In Sheldon, he was a member of the United Methodist Church and the Prairie Queen Kiwanis. In 2005, the board of directors of the Iowa Independent Bankers Association voted to change the name of the association’s Founders Award to the Robert D. Dixon Award. The award, presented annually at the IIB convention recognizes community bankers for their participation and devotion to community banking

Bob is survived by his wife Janet Dixon of Sheldon; a son and his wife, Robert J. “Rob” and Bonnie Dixon of Sheldon; a daughter Teresa A. Dixon of Edina, Minnesota; two grandchildren and their spouses, Heidi and Craig Nissen and Robert W. and Elizabeth Dixon; two great-grandchildren, Parker and Carter Nissen; three sisters, Alice and her husband, Merlyn Gahring of Vinton, Iowa; Roberta and her husband, Lloyd Saunders of Monmouth, Iowa and Reatha Kluser of Lebanon, Oregon; and other relatives and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents and two brothers, Gerald in infancy and William Dixon.

http://www.rolfealumni.com/memorial/dixon_bob.htm