Ted Oran Dickson

Teddy “Eat ‘‘em Up” Oran Dickson (91 ½) was the only son born to what he would call a “piss poor and woman dominated” home in Grand Saline, Texas. He would regale stories of childhood to include having a little girl bite his toe, eating tomato and onions behind the outhouse in the afternoons, ringing chicken’s necks, and routinely getting “ass-whooping’s” for… well just for doing boy things. He spoke fondly of four sisters who all preceded him in death. He learned the carpenter trade and would go on to build everything from houses to bookshelves. He was quite the handy man who insisted that his daughter learn everything to become self-sufficient. She is still working on how to survive without him.

He was undisputedly the smartest person in any room, a voracious reader and could define any word on demand. After high school he joined the Marines. His test scores were the highest in Louisiana (we have the news clippings) which immediately qualified him for the front lines in Korea. He was present for the nuclear bomb testing and regularly sent notes and money home to his family in Shreveport, La. On one visit home, he learned that upon seeing his military credentials, his mother concluded he was a government spy and coordinated the bomb dropping in Iwo Jima, Japan. He was rather famous in his hometown.

While stationed in Japan, he met the woman who who spoil him rotten and make him unbearably hard to please…our sainted mother, Fusako Otomo. During their courtship, he charmed her enough to agree to marry him (despite neither of them speaking the other’s language very well). Being a smart woman, she insisted that he write home and ask his mother for permission to marry her. Being a brilliant woman, she insisted that the response remain unopened, and her friend translated his mother’s response” If you love her-we love her. Bring her home.” She left her home, family, and country to be with him. She never looked back and never seemed to regret it or never told anyone that she did.

They adopted a 2-year-old boy that Fusako regularly cared for and refused to leave behind: Kennith I Dickson (Teresa). Later, Fusako suffered an atopic pregnancy and was told she would never have children. Several years later…the miracle child- Nicole Marie Cavanagh (Vince) was born. Ted had decided his first born would be named John Thomas. Fusako being a good wife, told the staff this would be the miracle child’s name. Fusako tearfully called Ted with the doctor present and said she could not go home with a girl named John. Ted said he picked up a Time magazine and a visiting princess Nicole Marie inspired him. Eighteen months later John Thomas Dickson was born, and Fusako said, “Nicole is no miracle- that doctor was wrong.”

As Marines do, he spent 31 years in faithful service- then retired in Beaufort, SC. After retirement, he earned his Associates Degree and challenged his children to do better. He drove cars earning enough money to buy his wife lunch-it was all gravy at that point. Many might remember seeing him walking with his two huskies in the Beaufort area and then later in the Batesburg neighborhoods with his French Bulldogs

The Dickson clan was prolific producing five grandchildren (Anson Dickson, Jessica Allen (Jesse), Michael Sullivan, Elizabeth Dickson, Megan Dickson and four great-grandchildren: Hannah Sullivan, Jack. Allen, Josie Allen, and Juliana Allen. Some of his happiest moments were spending time with his great grandchildren and in conversations with his grandchildren.

After the passing of his perfect wife, Ted moved to Batesburg, SC, where he served as his daughter’s co-pilot and ride or die companion. Trips to Savannah, Cincinnati, Louisville, Dallas, Shreveport, Portland, the Florida Keys, Disneyland and dozens of day outings for yummy breakfasts, lunches and antiquing were part of his itinerary. These trips were filled with observations of human behavior in the social environment and lots of smiles (Nicole’s mostly- Marines don't emote).

Finally- his love language was acts of service. Fixed everything and was ready with advice and hardcore truths. Some would say he was a “son of a… “but that was only to screen out the weak. After you got through the rough exterior, and the rougher middle, there was a wonderful surprise in his core (please don’t tell him we said that). He loved deeply, lived without regrets, and died taking a piece of the hearts of everyone who he allowed to love him.