Pearl May Smyth Dixon was an accomplished woman. She went to be with her Lord and Savior on Sunday September 13, 2020. She was the second of six girls and was born to Pearl Bixler Smyth and William Quartly Smyth on February 11, 1924, eight miles from Corning, Iowa. After graduating from high school as Valedictorian, she worked in Washington, D.C., like many young people during WWII. It was there, at a social in the basement of Peter Marshall’s church, that she met her future husband Robert Rutledge Dixon. On October 3, 1944, they were married in Iowa, but they would come to live in 8 US states as well as Australia, Lebanon, Indonesia, Iran, England, Saudi Arabia, the Unite Arab Emirates, Columbia and Brazil. They moved 28 times, usually to accommodate Bob’s work in gas pipelines. Pearl learned the languages of the foreign locations where they lived. They were a devoted couple until Bob’s unexpected death in 1996, just 17 days shy of their 52nd anniversary.
Pearl was an amazing cook, seamstress, crocheter, gardener and reader; in recent years she and her friends put together many complicated jigsaw puzzles. At age 78 she went to Thailand to teach English to 3,4 and 5 year olds and loved “her kids.” But mostly she loved being a wife to Bob and mother to William Paul, Douglas Lemuel, John Robert and Curran Lee. She enjoyed camping, hiking up waterfalls, and all things adventurous which her sons or grandchildren attempted, or she initiated, like surfing with Curran and zip-lining at age 88 with Angie. She was Grandmother to 9, and Great-grandmother to 17 children that she adored. In high school she wanted to be a math and Spanish teacher — never imagining she would come to teach English in Thailand.
Pearl loved her Lord Jesus Christ and spent much time reading her Bible. She was devoted to her husband Bob, and put family above everything. She was fulfilled by helping others.
For the last 10 years Pearl lived in Erie and Westminster, Colorado. While she thought the mountain views were beautiful, she was less impressed with the cold weather. She also missed having a car and being able to go where she wanted to when she wanted to.
Pearl was pre-deceased by her adoring husband Bob, her son Curran Lee, her parents, and her sisters Olive, Wilma, Helen and Isabelle. She leaves behind her sons, their wives Beverly, Mollie and Cathy, her sister Gwen Hughes, and those thriving grandchildren and precious great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and friends - all of whom hold special memories of her and stories about her.
Graveside services will be held on Saturday November 7, at 10:00 AM at Stratford Cemetary, Putnam St. & Cedar St., Stratford, Texas, 79084.
In leu of flowers, the family prefers donations to :
The Dr. Opal P. Dixon Memorial Scholarship, Lamar University Foundation, P.O. Box 11500, Beaumont, TX, 77710 or online: www.lamar.edu.
-or-
Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch, Gift Processing Center, 600 W. 11th, Amarillo, TX, 79101-3228 or online: www.calfarley.org.
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