Tom and Betty Dixon, North County
One Couples’ Faithfulness
Tom Dixon likes to try new varieties of plants in his garden. “I like to see things grow. I like to try new things.” Even at the age of ninety. “I’ve been gardening since I was six or seven.” Betty, his wife of over sixty years, prefers cooking. She began cooking when she was a girl in 4-H, and she’s been doing it ever since. Tom and Betty are longtime Roanokers and retired educators. After graduating from Farmville State Teacher’s College in 1943, Betty began teaching home economics. Tom graduated from Washington and Lee in 1938, then received his master’s from the University of Virginia in 1961. His first love was chemistry. “I can teach you how to make gunpowder,” Tom smiles. Why chemistry? “I had a good high school chemistry teacher and in those days we didn’t have guidance counselors, so when I got to W & L, I pursued chemistry.” Chemistry led to an interest in psychology which led to an interest in education.
It was teaching that landed Tom and Betty in Roanoke. When it comes to church, though, they didn’t find Northminster—Northminster found them. “[Reverend] Don Irwin came by and asked me to teach Sunday School before we even attended,” Tom explains. “I taught the Logan Class for years and years.” Betty grins. “Forty-seven,” she volunteers mischievously. They joined in 1945. Sixty two years may seem like a long time to be a part of one congregation, but Betty and Tom belong to multi-generational Presbyterian families. “There’s more than just being Presbyterian,” Betty adds. “It’s the relationships—the friendships over time.” Those friendships are now being forged with new faces. Tom is enthused by what he sees with Northminster’s kids. That enthusiasm was strengthened at a recent confirmation service, which he found meaningful. “There’s a younger generation that is taking over. . . .There’s some youngsters that are really good.” Betty is also excited about the kids, especially the children’s sermons on Sundays: “I never know what [the minister] is going to do!”
They are no longer teaching, but they keep occupied. They have a daughter and son-in-law who live up the street, and another daughter and son-in-law in Florida. They enjoy keeping up with what the grandkids are doing. Tom is an avid reader and keeps a close eye on the weather. Betty volunteers at the Presbyterian Community Center and Friendship Manor. “People are her hobby, really,” Tom says. So it’s hard to say that they are retired. Instead, they just focus on other things. A woman who takes care of people for a hobby. A man who knows how to grow new things. They should know a thing or two about the future of a church. “I like the direction the church is going,” Tom says. “I like what’s going on right now. I’m happy.”