[Funeral Program for Bishop Ernest Thomas Dixon, Jr., July 3, 1996] Page: 2 of 3
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ERNEST T. DIXON, JR.
Ernest Thomas Dixon, Jr. was born in San Antonio, Texas on
October 13, 1922. His parents were Ernest Thomas Dixon, Sr. and
Ethel Louise Reese Dixon. He grew up on the east side of San Antonio
that had been referred to, at times, as the Black Ghetto. He graduated
from Phyllis Wheatley High School in 1939. During his years in
high school, 1936-1939, he lettered in football, served as student
principal, was elected president of the senior class, and graduated
with highest honors.
Ernest, better known as "Billy" on the East Side, was very active in
the neighborhood. While attending high school, some persons
believed that "Billy" Dixon would be sent to the Detention Center
of Gatesville before he graduated. Dedicated clergy and lay persons
of Jacob's Chapel United Methodist Church helped to guide him
through those difficult years and influenced his decision to enter
the Christian ministry.
When he entered Samuel Huston College in September 1939, the
United States of America was experiencing a great Depression. His
father's salary was very low and his mother was washing clothes for
$2.50 a bundle. To supplement the scholarship he received, Ernest
served as a table waiter at hotels and night clubs in Austin, Texas,
during the school year and mowed lawns and waited tables at the
Fort Sam Houston Officer's Club in the summer. He graduated
Magna Cum Laude from Samuel Huston College (now Huston-
Tillotson College) in May 1943. In July 1943, he married Lois
Freddie Brown. They had four children: Freddie Brown, Ernest
Reese, Muriel Jean and Leona Louise. Lois Dixon died in December
1977 and Ernest Reese died in October 1990.
May 1979 Ernest married Dr. Ernestine Gray Clark and acquired a
daughter, Sherryl Diane Blue.
Ernest went to Drew Theological Seminary while assisting churches,
first in Harlem, New York, and then in Summit, New Jersey, receiving
his B.D. degree in 1945. He was then ordained deacon by Bishop
Robert N. Brooks and took up work as Director of Religious Extension
Service at Tuskegee Institute (nowTuskegee University) in Alabama.
During his six years of service at Tuskegee, Ernest coordinated a low
cash cost housing program which resulted in the building of two
AME Zion Churches and several demonstration family homes. As
he completed the last two years of his service at Tuskegee, Ernest
served also as Visiting Instructor of Rural Church Work at Gammon
Theological Seminary, Atlanta, Georgia and was the Co-organizer
and Co-pastor of Bowen United Methodist Church, Tuskegee.
In 1946, Ernest was ordained elder, again by Bishop Robert N.
Brooks. He returned to his home Conference (West Texas, New
Orleans Area, Central Jurisdiction, the Methodist Church) where he
served as Executive Secretary of the Conference Board of Education,
1951-52.
The family moved to Nashville in 1952 when Ernest Dixon joined
the staff of the Division of the Local Church, General Board of
Education, a position he held until he became President of Philander
Smith College, Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1965. In 1969 he again
became a general agency staff member, this time in charge of
coordination for the Program Council in Dayton, Ohio. He was in
this position when elected to the episcopacy in 1972 by the South
Central Jurisdictional Conference, meeting in Houston, Texas. He
was assigned to the Kansas Area. In 1980 he was assigned to the
San Antonio Area, back in his home state of Texas. After serving
the San Antonio Area for twelve years, Bishop Dixon retired in
August, 1992.
Ernest Dixon was President of the General Board of Higher Education
and Ministry 1972-76. He served as President of the Texas
Conference of Churches for a two-year term, 1984-86. Ernest served
as President of the Council of Bishops for the 1988-89 term. From
1978-1992 he served as President of the Board of Trustees, Gulfside
Assembly, Waveland, Mississippi. Bishop Dixon served on many
boards and commissions, some of which were: Health Care Ministries
United Methodist Church, Planned Parenthood, United Negro
College Fund, Huston-Tillotson Board of Trustees, Board of Directors
of Santa Rosa Hospital Foundation, Martin Luther King Commission
of San Antonio, Texas Methodist Foundation. Ernest was also given
honorary degrees by Huston-Tillotson College, Southwestern College
(Kansas), Baker University, Westmar College, and Kansas Wesleyan
University. He served as a member of the Executive Committee of
the World Methodist Conference 1976-1992.
Ernest Dixon died June 29, 1996.
He is survived by his wife, Ernestine Clark Dixon; one son, Freddie
B. Dixon, Sr. and wife, Barbara, of Austin, Texas; three daughters,
Muriel Jean Dixon, Leona Louise Thomas and husband, John, of
San Antonio, Texas and Sherryl Dianne Blue and husband, Tony, of
Washington, D.C.; five grandchildren, Freddie B. Dixon Jr. ("Billy")
of Atlanta, Georgia, Douglas L. Dixon, of Austin, Texas and Charles
Ryan Thomas, of San Antonio, Texas, Nicholas and Sinclair Blue, of
Washington D.C.; two great-grandchildren, Brichelle Jasminee'
Dixon, of Austin and Freddie B. Dixon III, of Atlanta, Georgia; two
nephews, Dwight W. Ross of Ronceverte, Virginia and Byron Keith
Ross, of Houston, Texas; cousin, Myrtle Reed, of Edna, Texas and a
host of other relations and friends.
ORDER OF SERVICE
PRELUDE
PROCESSIONAL
INTROIT
..."You who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abides in
the shadow of the almighty, will say to the Lord, my Refuge and
my Fortress; my God, in whom I trust.." Psalms 91:1-2
HYMN OF CELEBRATION "0 For A Thousand Tongues to Sing" Hymn 57
THE GREETING
Dr. Stephen P. Wende
Senior Pastor, University United Methodist Church
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Reverend Mario Ruggia
Associate Pastor Colonial Hills
United Methodist Church
O God, Our Father, from whom we come and unto whom our
spirits return, we confess to Thee our reluctance to commit to Thee
those whom we love. Give us Grace, in the presence of death, to
worship Thee and to trust Thy care with confidence. Through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
WORDS OF ASSURANCE
Let us rejoice in His presence with us, in death as in life, among those
who mourn as with those who now see Him face to face....
THE COUNCIL OF BISHOPS OF
THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Personal Word
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH NO. 881
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
Bishop Ann B. Sherer
Missouri Episcopal Area
The United Methodist Church
Bishop Raymond Owen
San Antonio Episcopal Area
The United Methodist Church
The Apostles' Creed
Bishop Alfred Norris
North West Texas-New Mexico Episcopal Area
The United Methodist Church
HYMN OF THANKSGIVING "Spirit of The Living God" Hymn 393
FIRST READING OF SCRIPTURE Reverend Minerva G. Corcano
Psalms 100 Program Director, Mexican-American Program
Perkins School of Theology
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[Funeral Program for Bishop Ernest Thomas Dixon, Jr., July 3, 1996], pamphlet, July 3, 1996; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth226156/m1/2/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting San Antonio Public Library.