Willard "Bill" Addison Dickerson, Jr.

Bill was born on August 25,1942 in Oxford, NC to Willard Addison Dickerson, Sr. and Nettie Blanche Riggan. Bill grew up delivering newspapers by bike, helped out on family farms and was active in the Boy Scouts and Sea Scouts. Bill graduated from Oxford High School, Louisburg College and attended NCSU.

Bill married his high school sweetheart, Susan Daniel, and moved to Columbia, Missouri where he completed his bachelor's degree and earned his Masters in Forest Entomology at the University of Missouri. While in Missouri, Bill worked with his former Scout Master and entomology mentor, F.R.”Dud” Lawson, who fostered Bill’s professional focus on biological control of agricultural pests as well as his personal drive to understand how all things natural and mechanical worked.

Bill and Susan lived in Missouri for 12 years where they made many lifelong friends. They were active members of Midway Locust Grove UMC and had two daughters, Beth and Julie. Bill’s work and desire to move closer to extended family brought the family back to NC in 1976.

He was the original girl dad, serving in leadership roles on the PTA, assembling Barbie’s dream house, building dorm furniture, and even shopping for prom gowns. He was a proud marching band parent who rarely missed a Friday night halftime show and traveled with the band to set up for competitions. He was willing to include his daughters as helpers in his many projects, exposing them to tools, teaching skills and fostering interests.

Bill designed a trap for the cotton boll weevil, leading to the pest’s eradication in the US. Bill’s boll weevil traps are still used today in places where boll weevils remain a threat to cotton crops. When you see what looks like an upside down bright green solo cup on a stick near a cotton field, you have seen one of his traps.

During his over 50-year career with the US Department of Agriculture and the NC Department of Agriculture, Bill’s work focused on state and national management of plant pests and invasive species such as gypsy moths, citrus canker disease and honeybee mites. Bill was honored for his work with boll weevil eradication and received The Order of The Long Leaf Pine, the James Graham Award for Outstanding Service to Agriculture in NC and was chosen as the News and Observer’s Tarheel of the Week.

Bill had a love for boating fostered in the Sea Scouts; he enjoyed sailing and, later, power boating with his grandsons. A fascination with aircraft and aviation led to Bill earning his pilot’s license, attending air shows and rocket launches, flying kites and even designing and building a 12-foot kite with a like-minded friend during an annual beach vacation. Bill was a very capable carpenter who made furniture, restored a wooden sailboat, constructed several buildings and was eager to take on renovation and repair projects. He was affectionately nicknamed MacGyver for his ability to attempt repairs and fix things with a few of his favorite items; duct tape, 2 by 4s, rope, and a measuring tape.

Travel experiences and adventures were a delight for Bill, making an extended family road trip from NC to Prince Edward Island, camping in the Rocky Mountains, exploring a new city, or simply “rambling” in the car on the weekend. After retiring, he worked to renovate a home at Kerr Lake where his greatest joy was watching his grandsons and extended family gathering together. Jokes and silly mischief were woven into his relationships and remained a core part of his personality even with his caregivers helping him through Alzheimer’s.

As a member of Edenton Street UMC for nearly 50 years, Bill and Susan taught third grade Sunday school together and Bill helped many kids learn their way around their new bibles with the aid of a seemingly unending supply of Jolly Rancher candies.

Bill was not only the dad of daughters Beth and Julie, he was a chosen dad, granddaddy and even great granddaddy to many of the girls’ friends. His calm demeanor and willingness to work for solutions in tough situations were a valuable asset and powerful example.

Bill is survived by his daughters, Sarah Elizabeth “Beth” Dickerson Bowers and husband, William Blaine Bowers III, and Julie Dickerson Edwards and husband, Neil Cameron Britt; grandsons, Henry Addison Edwards, William Daniel Bowers, and Neil McLean Britt; sister, Sandra Dickerson Abbott and husband, Paul Franklin “Pete” Abbott; sister-in-law, Paula Daniel Glover and husband, Frank McClellan Glover; 2 nieces, 4 nephews, as well as several grandchildren by choice and one great grandchild by choice.

Bill was preceded in death by his wife of 59 years, Susan Daniel Dickerson; his parents; his brother, Melville Riggan “Mel” Dickerson; and son-in-law, Jonathan Hall Edwards.

A memorial service to celebrate Bill’s life will be held Saturday, July 12th at 10:30 am at Edenton Street United Methodist Church, located at 228 W. Edenton St, Raleigh, NC. Visitation will follow in the Garden Gallery after the service.

In lieu of flowers, contributions to support those with dementia and their caregivers can be made in Bill’s memory to the Dementia Alliance of NC at dementianc.org

Services provided by Brown-Wynne, 300 Saint Mary's St., Raleigh, NC.