Obituary of Sylvester C Dixon

Sylvester Carl Dixon was born on September 28, 1934 in Hookerton, North Carolina. He was the only child of Sylvia Dixon( deceased) and George Bright (deceased). Sylvester attended school first at Leniorr County Elementary School then completed high school at Green County Training School in 1953. In high school he was know for being “Best Built”. He was also on the football team and was a school bus driver. His mom Sylvia often said Sylvester had a lead foot on the gas when driving the school bus, so the school placed a speedometer on his bus just for him. Within a month of completing high school, and with the sign permission of his mother, Sylvester enlisted into the USA Military Army starting at Ft Jackson, South Carolina at the age of 17yrs old. Sylvester only meant to first stay in the army for 3 years but ended up re-enlisted in 1956 and serve a total of 22years. During his service he spent many years between Germany, Korea and Vietnam. He was honored with the following medals for his duty: National Defense Service Medal; Army Commendation Medal; Meritorious Service Medal, Bronze Star Medal, Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (Korea). While still in the service stationed at Ft Hood, Texas in 1965, Johnny, as most of us knew him by,met the love of his life Patricia Ann Mitchell (deceased) from Waco, Texas. One of Pat’s friend told a story that she was present when they met and could see Johnny fall over the hill for Patricia. Johnny affectionally always referred to Patricia as “Dear”. They were married on February 11, 1966 and was blessed with their marriage for 51 years. In October 1968, Johnny moved the family to Ft Dix, New Jersey and decided to settle in Willingboro, NJ. Johnny retired from the army in 1975. After hanging up his military boots Johnny worked for John Hancock Insurance for 10 years, then was employed by the NJ State Police in Trenton NJ until his final retirement October 4th, 1999. During the retirement years Johnny and Patricia travel…. went on many cruises and made sure to visit with family and friends, were big time Biz Wiz players, and made many visits to the casino wherever they went. Sylvester is survived by his daughter Rhonda Johnson “aka Sugar/Sugs” (NJ),two sons: Michael A Owings (MD) and Carlton Dixon “aka Buddy” (NJ), his granddaughter Sharonda Johnson “aka Pooch” (NJ), niece Pamela Gaines (LV) grand niece and nephew Kyanda Gaines (CA) and Alex Gaines (NJ) and cousin ShaRon Kittrell (TX), cousin James Dixon (NC), brother-in-law Howard Gentry, cousin Nancy Vasartis (MD), best friend William Fred Bryant (TX) and a host of other cousins and close friends.