*Los Angeles, CA: Luke Dixon, a long-time Los Angeles resident, respected community leader, and successful businessman passed away peacefully at the age of 109 years old on March 14, 2022. Life Celebration services for Mr. Dixon will be held Friday, April 15, 2022, 11am, at Crenshaw Christian Center, 7901 South Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA.
Born in Mound, Louisiana, November 29, 1912, Mr. Dixon was a World War II veteran. He was a student at Arkansas Baptist College before being drafted into the U. S. Army in 1941 and was celebrated by his Alma Mater in 2018 in a special ceremony honoring him as their oldest living student.
Following his discharge from the U. S. Army to Los Angeles, California, Mr. Dixon and his wife, Mary, began achieving notable milestones that changed the course of their lives and endeared them to their community. Always eager to learn and improve his life, Mr. Dixon began a career at the Los Angeles Post Office (Terminal Annex) in 1947 where he remained for over a decade.
After his wife’s death in 1956, Mr. Dixon took on the challenges of a single parent to 3 young children, Robert, Doris, and Shirley. As he continued to educate himself, he passed the real estate test and began selling real estate in 1957, while maintaining his position at the Post Office, working the swing shift. A year later, he opened his own business, Dixon’s Income Tax Services. He eventually also became a Notary, adding another feather to his cap. Years later, he established Luke Dixon Talent Agency.
Mr. Dixon remained a living example of a great man and what can be achieved with the right education, dedication, wise work ethics, good intentions, kindness, a calm demeanor—and Jesus Christ as the Leader, the foundation of your life and Source of all decisions as you service the needs of others.
Luke Dixon leaves a loving legacy and unforgettable memories for his children, Robert, Doris, Quincy, numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren, along with many relatives and friends.
LUKE DIXON —A LIFE VERY WELL-LIVED—
MORE NEWS ON EURWEB:
Luke Dixon was truly an example of a great man. He was honest, honorable, strong, hard-working, kind, wise—a great husband and terrific father; one who took his walk with Christ Jesus very seriously. Anyone who had the opportunity to know him, even for a short period of time, certainly walked away with something of lasting value for their own lives.
True to who he always was, calmly and sweetly, Luke Dixon answered the “call Home” peacefully, willingly saying “Yes!” to the One Who had guided his every step, his every decision, and allowed him a blessed, long life while on earth.
At the age of 109 years old – 3 months and 14 days into his 110th year, Mr. Dixon left this world for a better one. While here on this earth, he left his mark – a very positive one. Already, people of the world are missing his spirit, though they may not be able to totally understand it. For whenever such a one as Luke leaves, there is a void and yearning in the earth—though most may not know how to describe nor understand the vacuum and unexplainable groaning in their spirit and heart. Surely, his beloved and devoted children—Robert, Doris, and Quincy—along with many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and other close family and friends feel the void and loss in a deeper way.
The good, godly example Luke Dixon left cannot be adequately described in spoken or written words. For they fall short. Only his undying spirit and its continual impact on many he never met can relay who he was. The stats are just that, stats—but they give you a pretty good indication of the man who lived as Luke Dixon did.
Mr. Dixon was born November 29, 1912, during a time that was not so good for Black people and especially Black men living in America. Yet, his strong foundation—built on the Christ Jesus—allowed him to not just survive, but to live well and thrive.
Born to a close-knit family in Mound, Louisiana, Mr. Dixon was among the few Black men during his era to attend college. In 1933, he was one of two who received a college scholarship from his church to Arkansas Baptist College (ABC). He left home to attend college in 1935, and eventually moved off-campus in 1936 to live with the multimillionaire, Mrs. Suggs, widow of a doctor—whose sister was also the widow of a wealthy doctor. Mrs. Suggs was not only Luke’s benefactor, but she was also grooming him for a top position in a small hospital; United Friends Hospital, the first Black hospital in Little Rock, Arkansas, in operation from 1922 to 1965.
Just before his senior year at Arkansas Baptist College in 1941, two eventful things happened that would change the course of his life in different ways: He was drafted into the U.S. Army and he married his sweetheart, Mary E. Johnson (who had an identical twin sister, Martha). In 1945, he was honorably discharged from the U. S. Army to Los Angeles, CA. The couple welcomed their first daughter, Doris, in 1946. (The eldest child, Robert, had been born in Chicago, where Mary had moved during the “Great Migration” to live with her older brother and his wife.)
In 1947, Luke started a new life journey with the U.S. Post Office (working at the Terminal Annex. His life that would impact, positively, his family, his community, and a host of others seemed to launch from here on:
1951 – Luke and Mary were clearly a duo with a trailblazing spirit. They moved their family from Stanton Ave (in the Willowbrook/Compton area where many Black families lived) into the middle-class West Adams District of Los Angeles, where it was 99% non-integrated. This, of course, was a risky move during the time, as they were only the 3rd African American family to move into the neighborhood—and the very first to move onto their block.
1956 – Heartbreak occurred when Luke’s wife and partner, Mary, passed away, leaving him with three children to care for: Shirley 3, Doris 9, and Robert 14.
1957 – Constantly seeking advancement opportunities to improve his family’s life, Luke Dixon studied for and passed the real estate test, and began his career selling real estate while maintaining his job at the Post Office, working the swing shift.
Below are the steps on his life path; steps that would also lead to a better life and upward mobility:
- 1958 – Luke was continuing to educate himself and was able to open his own business: Luke Dixon’s Income Tax Services. It also served as a training ground where he taught his daughter, Doris, and a few of her friends the process of preparing taxes.● 1961 – Luke’s sister, Minnie Pearl, who lived in SFO, became ill & had surgery. On weekends, he would drive up to check on her. On one of his visits, he met her good friend (Marie Inez) who was nursing Minnie Pearl back to health.● 1962 – Luke marries Marie Inez Wallace, in SFO. Marie Inez relocated to Los Angeles, and of course, brought her 12-yr. old son, Quincy with her to join the Dixon family.
● 1962 – Mr. Luke became a Notary; this added another feather to his cap.
● 1975 – Luke Dixon Talent Agency was established – Hollywood, CA.
● 1987 – Luke celebrated his 75th birthday at the Allen House (First African Methodist Episcopal Church – FAME) where his daughter was a member.. “A surprise…!” – 300 people attended. (Can you imagine 300 people keeping a secret?! But they did!)
● 1997 – Celebrated his 85th birthday @ Truxtons
● 2002 – Celebrated 90th birthday @ the Ports O’ Call Restaurant-San Pedro, CA
● 2007 – Celebrated 95 years of life @ the Redondo Beach, Crown Plaza
● 2012 – Celebrated 100 yrs. of life @ the Torrance Marriott with over 200 people in attendance. A mega event!
● 2014 – Luke was selected as 1 of 8 elder seniors (90 yrs. +) from over 100 who auditioned to star in an (unknown @ that time) commercial.
● 2015 – The Dodge 100th Anniversary Commercial was shown during the 2015 XLIX Super Bowl half-time – Patriots vs. Seahawks 28-24 on February 1, 2015. This Superbowl will go down in history as the most-watched (to date) with a 114.44 million viewers tuning in.
● 2017 – Invited to the set of tv show, NCIS, where Luke met and took photos with Mark Harmon and show’s cast.
● 2017 – Invited to go on an Honor Flight with Southern California Honor Flights (Veterans are invited to participate in a long weekend, and flown to Washington D.C. to visit the monument built in honor of the war in which the Veteran fought. It’s quite an honor, an extremely festive weekend full of airport crows waiting to shake their hands, meet & greet ceremonies, a fly-over, bands, signs displaying “thank you for your service” and so much more to honor these courageous men and women.
● 2017 – Celebrated 105 years of life at Renaissance Hotel – LAX, with a host of family, friends, media, and NCIS cast attends.
● 2018 – Invited & attended ceremony held in his honor—as their oldest living student—at his Alma Mater (Arkansas Baptist College), Little Rock, Arkansas.
● 2019 – Beloved Shirley, Luke’s baby daughter passes away.
● 2019 – Luke re-established residency and began living in the McCall/Brown household with his eldest daughter, Doris, her son, Charles, and family.
● 2019 – Celebrated his 107th birthday @ home with a few family members & good friends.
● 2020 – Covid-19 interrupts normal way of life globally. Everything halts in California due to a mandatory “stay @ home order”. This caused Luke’s newly-found routine of going at least once and sometimes twice a week to the newly-built & opened Inglewood Sr. Citizens Center for lunch & afterwards many times taking part in other offered activities. On Fridays, he and his caregiver would be picked up for lunch and an Adventure. He truly looked forward to these outings which came to a screeching halt.
● 2020 – Celebrated his 108th birthday with an organized Motorcade and the media.● 2021 – Celebrated his 109th birthday again with an organized motorcade; this time with 3 fire trucks, a fire battalion truck, and again, the media. Many neighbors came out and brought their children to meet Mr. Luke, who was, in most cases, the oldest person that they’d ever met.
● 2022 – 109 yrs. 3 months, and 14 days into his 110th yr. Mr. Luke was “Called Home” and sweetly, peacefully, answered the call.
Because of Mr. Dixon’s positive, life-changing influence during his nearly 110 years on this earth, so many others know much more about how to live their lives better, and how to help others do likewise—while they’re on earth and after they’ve gone on.
May Luke Dixon’s life and the memory of what it means to be a great man, live on.
source: Doris McCall
We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!
