Fred Lee Dixon

Fred Lee Dixon, 87 of Cheyenne, WY passed away September 17, 2023. He was born on January 24, 1936 in Mancos, Colorado to Fred and Adeline Dixon. He was one of eight siblings. He grew up on a busy working farm and learned to ride and saddle a horse by the age of six. The work was always hard but there was always time for he and his siblings to be mischievous and have lots of fun.
He began his long history of being a hard working man by starting in the oilfields at the age of the age 17. He broke his leg on the job and while recovering from it he met the love of his life, Arlene. They were married on October 16, 1954 in Hereford, TX. After marriage he worked at a gas station called Short’s 66 in Clovis, NM and then went on to a sales position at JC Penney in Portales, NM from 1956 to 1963. He was then offered a position with Gibson’s Discount in Cheyenne, WY which he accepted. He and Arlene bravely packed up their four young children and moved to the unknown.
He flourished at Gibson’s as department manager and was later promoted to assistant manager. He and Arlene also opened up two surplus stores under the name of Frances Arlene Surplus and sold any and everything imaginable. During that same time, he also took on the responsibility of leasing and managing the restaurant at Two Bar Bowl for a one year period. His love of building and constructing led him to build his own home here in Cheyenne and he worked with his brother, Jim of Denver, pouring concrete. This led him to his next adventure to begin another business and he and Arlene moved back to Clovis, NM in 1975.
There they built another home and began their business, Dixon Cement. Later on, he became a general contractor and Dixon Cement and Construction was formed. He worked with Arlene hand in hand for the next 22 years before retirement. After retirement, you could find Fred working in his shop restoring vehicles and tinkering. He loved buying old bicycles and restoring them to give away to children who didn’t have one. He also enjoyed buying broken lawnmowers at garage sales just to prove they could be fixed. In his spare time he would play with his great grandchildren, playing his guitar and singing.
He and Arlene were very active in church. He was a Deacon at Forrest Heights Baptist Church and she was Sunday school teacher and Girls Auxiliary leader. He loved to participate in visitation and was always there to lend a hand to those who were less fortunate. They would host pool parties at their home for the youth groups and have barbecues where all were welcome. Although these were busy years, it brought them great joy and they were always generous with their time and money.
He always found time to ride motorcycles and go on traveling adventures from New York to Oregon. He loved spending time with his grandchildren and later his great grandchildren. He taught most of them life’s valuable lessons that included driving dump trucks, tractors and four wheelers, getting their heads dunked in the pool and magic card lessons. He also always had funny and outrageous stories to tell them. He was blessed to have made many friends that lasted his lifetime through his line of work and was fortunate to have the best of neighbors, Thomas Taylor, Mark Guardipee and Jamie Maldonado. Most of all, having family visiting in their home was always his most treasured times.
Fred is survived by his wife Arlene of almost 69 years, son Randy (Debbie) children Sarah, Bearon (Melody) and their children Noah, Valarie, Eleanore, and Gillian. Daughter Kathy Flint and her daughter Terra and her children Andrew and Emma Hess. Son Bill (Ceci) and their son Carlos. Son Neil (Kathy) and their children Stacy, Nichole, Brittany, and Kristen. He is also survived by his brother John (Mary) Dixon and sister in law Betty Dixon, and great grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews. He is also survived by his loving pet Millie.
He was preceded in death by his father and mother Fred and Adeline Dixon, brothers Neal, Jim and Kim Dixon. Sisters Evelyn Brown, Jean Kroeger, and Carol Williams.