Richard W. "Shorty" Dickson

Richard “Shorty” Wayne Dickson 85 of Bristol, IL passed away on Tuesday, November 9, 2021 at Cedarhurst of Yorkville. He was born September 21, 1936, the son of Simon W. and Thelma L. (nee Wedemaier) Dickson in St. Joseph Hospital in Aurora, IL.

“Shorty” was his nickname all his life, and he had always lived on the over 150-year-old Bristol Family Farm. The farm buildings are now owned by the Conservation Foundation and known as the Dickson-Murst Farm. He is involved with the farm partners who organize three yearly farm events to show what farming life was like in the middle 1900’s.

He attended The Gordon, Bertram, Bristol, and Yorkville grade schools then graduated from Yorkville High School in 1954.
Shorty received his bachelors of Agricultural Science from The University of Illinois and a teacher’s certificate from Northern Illinois University. He then taught three years at Alden-Hebron High School in Hebron, IL. He loved the farm and would work with his father each summer and on open weekends.

He received his insurance license and was in insurance sales with Country Companies from 1963-1975. In 1975, Shorty, Don Ament, and Jesse Leach formed the Zeiter-Dickson Insurance Agency in Yorkville, Illinois and he retired from the agency in 2002.

Shorty always believed in public service and was on the Waubonsee Community College Board for over four decades and received the Distinguished Contribution Award in 2017. He has also provided many scholarships in the name of Anita Dickson Memorial Scholarship since 1996.

He has been on the Bristol-Kendall Fire Department Board for over three decades plus the Ken-Com 911 Executive Board. He was also on the Kane County Mutual Insurance Board and was a very active member of the Trinity United Methodist Church.
Shorty was Administrator Board Chairman for many years of the Bristol United Methodist Church and the Trinity United Methodist Church. He was one of the driving forces to consolidate the Montgomery, Bristol, and Yorkville Methodist Churches to form and build Trinity United Methodist Church. He was also a member of the Lions Club, Kendall County Historical Society, The Kendall County Farm Bureau, and was a Yorkville O2 Board Member.

Shorty married Anita Kingsbury in 1966 at the Aurora Wesley Methodist Church. They had three children, Joan L. (Terry) Becker of Bristol; Matthew W. (Arinne Curtis) Dickson of Bristol; and Wesley S. (Karen Walter) Dickson of Bolingbrook, IL.
Upon Anita’s death in 1986, Shorty met and married widowed Marian J. (the late Allan) Lee in 1998. Marian has two children, Bradford A. (Cheryl) Lee of Yorkville and Rhonda M. Lee of San Diego, California. Shorty has four grandchildren, Daniel and Courtney Becker, and Rachel and Kerri Dickson. Marian has three grandchildren, Tori (Michael) Bratcher; Brandon Lee; Mackenzie (Mikal) Lewis.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation Richard’s name to the Waubonsee Community College Dickson Scholarship Fund, Trinity United Methodist Church, or any charitable organization of your choice.

The family will receive friends at Trinity United Methodist Church 2505 Boomer Ln. Yorkville, IL on Tuesday, November 16, 2021 from 1pm – 7pm. Funeral Services will be on Wednesday, November 17, with visitation at Trinity United Methodist Church from 12:00pm until time of Funeral Service at 2:00pm. Interment to follow at Oak Grove Cemetery, Bristol, IL.