Obituary of Norma V. Dixon

Norma V. Dixon, a woman whose grace, kindness and strength of character enriched her beloved community of Lewiston as well as the lives of her many friends and family, died Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013, in Schoellkopf Health Center. She was 97. Born Feb. 4, 1916, in Trenton, Ont., she was a daughter of Edward and Ida Dingman. She was 5 when her family moved to Niagara Falls. She graduated from Niagara Falls High School in 1934 and went to work as office manager for the Gredag Co., a firm that manufactured a graphite and grease lubricant. The first female officer of the company, she left in 1946 to raise her family. She returned to work in 1960 as a teller in the Lewiston office of Marine Midland Bank, retiring in 1976. She married Harry B. Dixon on June 14, 1941, in St. James United Methodist Church. He died Sept. 11, 2001. The couple lived in Niagara Falls before moving to Lewiston in 1950. They were winter residents of Seminole, Fla., from 1980-90. Norma was a member of St. James United Methodist Church, the Lewiston Presbyterian Church, Lewiston Garden Club, Lewiston Service Guild, Friends of the Lewiston Library, Memorial Medical Center Corporation, the Medical Center Foundation's Legacy Society and Planned Parenthood of Niagara County. She is believed to be the last surviving member of the Saturn Mothers' Club, an organization based at the Niagara Falls YWCA that was a hub for young working women. With her husband Harry, a longtime Village of Lewiston trustee and deputy mayor, she co-chaired the Lewiston Sesquicentennial organizing committee and served on the Lewiston Kiwanis Peach Festival committee. Together they helped lay the groundwork for village beautification projects that included Christmas lights and decorative plantings. Norma prided herself on submitting the winning entry to name the Coat of Arms restaurant in Lewiston. She was the beloved mother of Patricia E. (Frederick) Berggren of Youngstown and Judith A. (Ronald) DeWald of Tonawanda. Another daughter, Judith Marie, died at birth. Survivors also include a step-great-granddaughter, Suzanne Briandi, several nieces and nephews and special friends Sharon, Clifford and Leslie Greathouse of Niagara Falls. She was the sister of the late Harold and E. Keith Dingman and Lulu Vail and the godmother of Capt. Robert Moses, SSC, USN, of Fairfax, Va., and J. Richard Moses of Germantown, Tenn. There will be no prior visitation. The Rev. Dr. Joyce E. Sirianni will conduct a memorial service at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 19, at the Lewiston Presbyterian Church, 505 Cayuga St. Interment will be in North Ridge Cemetery, Cambria, at the convenience of the family. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the Schoellkopf Park Beautification Fund c/o the Memorial Medical Center Foundation, PO Box 708, Niagara Falls, NY 14302. Funeral arrangements were entrusted to HARDISON FUNERAL HOME, N. Fourth & Ridge Sts., Lewiston