J. Edson Dickson Jr. ’49 died on June 8, 2019, in Waverly, New York.
(The following was published in the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin on June 30, 2019:)
Dickson spent his early years in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, and Mountain Lakes, New Jersey. He graduated from Manhasset High School, Long Island, New York, in 1945. Dickson attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts.
In 1950, Dickson began his career at the Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company, and married Joan MacAdam of Worcester, Massachusetts. They had three children, Karen MacAdam (1952), Joseph Dickson III (1953), and Jeffrey Thomas (1957).
Dickson joined the Peter Ellis Insurance Company of Owego, New York, in 1953. He became president and the business later became Ellis-Edson-Beaudry, Inc., and ultimately The Partners. It thrived over the course of many years. Dickson retired from The Partners in 2003 and was loved and respected by all that knew and worked with him.
In 1973, Dickson married his second wife, Jarvis Dean Engelhard. Jarvis has five children; Edward, Jennifer, Tim, Nancy, and Andrew.
Dickson was the founding director of the Tioga County Senior Citizens Foundation. After fifty-five years of service to the Foundation, he retired and was appointed director emeritus. During his tenure, over 1.3 million dollars were provided in support of senior citizens. Dickson was also director emeritus of the Tioga State Bank, and was a longstanding member of the Owego Methodist Church. In his leisure time, he enjoyed tennis, golfing, gardening, and bone fishing in the Bahamas.
Dickson is predeceased by one brother, two sisters, his wives Jarvis Edson and Joan MacAdam Moraitis, daughter, Karen Edson Bartlett and his son, Joseph Dickson Edson III. Dickson is survived by his son, Jeffrey of Boulder, Colorado, his wife Carol, and their children, Kyle and Rachel. Dickson is also survived by Jarvis’ five children, and their numerous children and grandchildren.