Thomas William Dixon, 87, of Clearwater, FL peacefully passed away on Monday October 24, 2022 following a year of physical decline. He was born on August 1, 1935 in Little Rock, AR to loving parents- Martha Dorothy Winterman Dixon and Thomas Warren Dixon.
On June 15, 1957 he married Catherine Gager in Miami, Florida and they shared a wonderful 65 years together.
Thomas was an aeronautical engineer for NASA, he graduated from Embry Riddle Aeronautical. He worked at Cape Canaveral on Saturn 7 through Apollo 11 and helped to send the 1st men to the moon. He then became a civil engineer and entrepreneur. Thomas owned A-OK Sign Co. and other businesses. At the end of Tom’s work career, he ventured into becoming a real estate broker.
His proudest achievements were raising his children and serving his country as a Marine in the Korean war. He had a love for driving cars, flying battery-operated airplanes, chess, looking into real estate opportunities & LOVED being with family. He was a member of Calvary Church in Clearwater.
Thomas lived in a few different places over his lifetime including St. Louis, Mo; Miami and S. Florida; Titusville, Fl; Ohio; Illinois; Virginia and had settled in Largo, FL for last 49 years.
He is survived by his wife- Catherine Dixon, Daughters- Pamela (John) Marron, Angela Helenek, Son- Charles (Terrie) Dixon, sister- Jean Skillman, grandchildren- Shawn Marron, Jacob Reppart, Monica (Logan) Murphy, Tiffany (Bryann) Lemke, Joseph Helenek, Bronson Dixon, Garrett Dixon, great-grandchildren- Adele, Luca, and Adalynn, nephew- Wade (Paulette) Skillman, and Glen (Kelly) Skillman.
A service will be held in his honor at Veterans Funeral Care- 830 N Belcher Road, Clearwater, FL 33765 on Saturday, November 5th, 2022 with a visitation at 11:00 AM and a memorial service to follow at 12:00 PM. A reception will follow the service.
Graveside services will be held on Saturday, November 12th, 2022 at 11AM at Bay Pines National Cemetery- 10,000 Bay Pines Blvd St. Petersburg, FL 33708.
In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to Operation Toy Soldier at www.OperationToySoldier.com in Thomas’ name.
Tom ,was a great mentor to me help me with my first condo purchase in Florida and was my biggest fan when I moved to New York . Rest well my friend !
Kevin Lipomi
Tom was a wonderful man, supportive Father in Law and a loving grandfather to my 3 children. I’ll always remember his early years, Tom driving his yellow convertible Porsche up to play Jai-Alai with us younger 20 year olds at the Zayre parking lot, eager to show he was not to be out done! He was also very competitive when we played pool at his house. We also played many rounds of golf together, looking forward to our beer and pizza afterwards. We had good times together for many years !
Rest In Peace Tom
Joe Helenek