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The ADVANCE, April 7, 2021 /Page 9A
WITH.
Bob Dixon
I I
THE SUMMARY OF A LIFE — While the Keurig spits out his first cup of coffee, Bob begins
each day studying the weathered pages of this Bible, a journal and pen on hand.
TWO BECOME ONE — Fresh out of college and about to
begin their careers, Bob and Suzanne married on June
16, 1984. Thirty-seven years later, they are still a great
team,
By Andrea Towns
Contributing Writer
This picture is worth
far more than a thousand
words as it is the sum
mary of Bob Dixon’s life
— the foundation on
which everything else has
been built. I know this,
not merely from a recent
conversation but because
he and his wife, Suzanne
Dixon, welcomed me into
their home and allowed
me to live in their upstairs
apartment space for two
years. Throughout that
time, I witnessed the start
of his day, the pattern of
his morning — with him
at their kitchen table as he
bent over his Bible. Many
people read and speak of a
life of faith. Mr. Bob genu
inely lives one with resolu
tion.
Bob Dixon is the son
of Betty Thaggard Dixon,
from Claxton, Georgia,
and Bobby R. Dixon of
Vidalia. He has two sisters
- the eldest, Kathy Dixon
Usher; and the younger,
Lynn Dixon Dean. His fa
ther’s family moved from
Perry, Florida, to Vidalia to
work for a lumber compa
ny and eventually opened
up one of their own, Hugh
M. Dixon Lumber Com
pany. Later, the family
opened the car dealership,
Dixon White Motors, re
named Dixon Pontiac
Buick Oldsmobile GMC
Trucks. This is where Bob
began his working life in
Vidalia, “in the parts de
partment counting parts
and then as a grease mon
key and a car-washer.” At
sixteen, through the high
school’s work-study pro
gram, he went to work for
the Georgia Machine Man
ufacturing Company as a
shearer, cutting sheet metal
and later a spot welder.
When he wasn’t working,
he was playing sports. His
father was chairman of the
Vidalia Recreation Depart
ment for quite some time,
and Bob was very involved
in the athletic activities of
fered there.
Raised in Vidalia,
he speaks fondly of his
childhood. “We were the
‘Church Street Gang,” he
said. “We played football,
baseball, and every other
sport in Polly Rushton’s
front yard.” As he hiked
from neighborhood to
neighborhoo d with friends,
his boyhood was classically
American. This isn’t to say
that it was perfect. “My
parents had their struggles
back in the day, before God
got a hold of my Dad.” This
was his father’s testimony
— a testimony of visible
transformation that would
prove pivotal in his son’s
life. “If you’re going to tell
my story, you have to tell
this part of it,” Bob said.
“When I was fifteen years
old, my Dad came to know
Christ. Before that, he was
a mess...hard and gruff.
His life was changed. After
that, we got involved in the
First Baptist Church Min
istry, and there, Don Moye
was pivotal in my coming
to know Christ. Because
of the decision on my dad’s
part and because of Don
Moye, my life changed
completely and I was given
a purpose. I’m the man I
am today because of those
decisions,” he said. He is
a man driven to serve his
God and serve others.
After high school, Bob
went to Georgia Southern
College, graduating in 1984
with a Bachelor’s degree in
Business Administration
and Accounting. In order
to save enough money to
finish out his degree, at
the end of his sophomore
year, he took a break from
school for six months and
worked as a meter reader
for Georgia Power. He re
turned to Georgia South
ern for the summer term
of his junior year, where he
met the woman who would
be his partner in ministry
— Suzanne Foster. “If I
hadn’t returned to school
that summer, things might
have been very different,”
he said of their meeting. A
week after graduating from
college, the two married on
June 16,1984, and chose to
begin their life in his home
town.
Suzanne, too, spoke
fondly of Vidalia. She de
scribed the city as “friend
ly, caring, and accepting.
It reminds me a lot of my
hometown, Fitzgerald.”
After they married, she
taught third grade in Vi
dalia. Though the school
systems have changed a
few times, third graders
SMILE — From this first-
grade photo to today, Bob
is still smiling. More than
that, when around him,
one can't help but do the
same.
in Toombs County have
been under her instruc
tion for quite some time.
Once they started a family,
Suzanne worked for First
Baptist Vidalia’s preschool,
Time for Tots for twelve
years. Bob and Suzanne
have four children: John,
Elizabeth, Abigail, and
Paul; and two grandchil
dren, with a third on the
way. “Vidalia was a great
place to raise our kids,”
the Dixons said. “All of our
children have friends they
met here, and even though
they’ve moved away, they
are still connected to a lot
of the friends they made
growing up in Vidalia.”
Please see Chat page
10A
FOR THE LOVE OF FAMILY — When asked why he chose
to return to Vidalia after college, Bob described his love
of home and family. The close relationship he shares
with his mother, Betty Dixon, is something he treasures,
VIDALIA
Medical Associates
Endoscopy Center of Southeast Georgia
[V&aii&k&i&fi&tym!
Ronnie R. Smith, M.D. • James H. Barber, Jr., M.D.
R. Lee Arnold, MPAS, PA-C • Dustin J. Carter, MPAS, PA-C and Staff
200 Maple Drive Vidalia, GA
www.prevention.md
