Archie Lewis Dickson

ARCHIE LEWIS DICKSON, JR. Archie Lewis Dickson, Jr. passed away April 3, 2013 at the Butterfly Wing of Hospice of Baton Rouge. A lifelong resident of Mississippi, he was living at Amber Terrace Assisted Living in Baton Rouge after the loss of his wife’s family home in Gulfport, MS to Hurricane Katrina. He was born in Jackson, MS on July 1, 1917 to Archie Lewis Dickson, Sr. and Maude Ellen Thompson Dickson and was the grandson of James Damascus and Martha Jane Shivers Dickson of Mt. Olive, MS. He always enjoyed the proximity of his birthday to the 4th of July by celebrating for the full 4 days. He was predeceased by his wife of 66 years, Margaret McWilliams Dickson, whom he married on Nov. 14, 1944. He remembered his anniversary as “111444”. He is survived by two daughters, Ann Dickson Miller and husband Terry H. Miller, Sr., Baton Rouge, LA, and Mary Carolyn Dickson, Poplarville, MS; two grandsons, Terry H. Miller, Jr., Washington, DC, and John M. Miller, Baton Rouge; and sister Ellen D. Smith, Jackson, MS. He was predeceased by his parents, a brother Herbert Dickson, Jackson, MS, a sister Louise D. Roberts, Alexandria, LA., and nephew Judge Eddie Roberts, Alexandria, LA. He attended Millsaps College and was a graduate of the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), where he was a member of the Kappa Alpha Order, Phi Alpha Delta law fraternity and Scabbard and Blade military fraternity, and the University of Mississippi Law School, where he earned his Juris Doctorate in 1946. On active duty in World War II, he trained as a tank officer, glider pilot and air intelligence officer. He earned a Purple Heart as a glider pilot. During the second wave of the D-Day invasion, his glider was shot down at Sainte Mere Eglise. He successfully landed his men and equipment in spite of his leg wound. He retired as a 1st Lieutenant from the Army Air Corps by a private act of Congress. He lived his adult life in Gulfport where he practiced law and was a New York Life insurance agent. He was a member and Elder of the First Presbyterian Church, the Gulfport Yacht Club, American Legion, National WW II Glider Pilots Association, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Great Southern Golf Club, Gulf Coast Life Underwriters Association and Young Men’s Business Club. He especially enjoyed fishing for speckled trout with George Boddie, Pat Pierce, and the late Nathan Boddie. He caught the winning speckled trout in the 1962 Mississippi Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo. The family would like to thank the staff and employees of Amber Terrace Assisted Living for their many years of care and kindness and the staff of the Butterfly Wing for their compassionate care the final five days of his life. Archie will be returning home for burial next to his wife in Evergreen Cemetery, Gulfport, MS. Visitation Saturday, April 6, 2013 at 9 AM at Bradford O’Keefe Funeral Home, 1726 15th Street Gulfport, MS, with service following at 10 AM and interment in Evergreen Cemetery. Family prefers memorials to Palmer Home for Children, PO Box 746, Columbus, MS 39703-9983 or French Camp Academy, French Camp, MS 39745-9989. View and sign register book at www.bradfordokeefe.com