This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.

Intelligent, Thoughtful, and Dedicated

Bob Dixon passed away on June 3. He was one of the first people I met in Essex. Ann and he were a wonderful couple. They shared so many interests, politics, sailing on Venture, the Essex Yacht Club (EYC), the Essex Republican Town Committee, and Saint John’s Episcopal Church.

I spent many an evening on the EYC deck with the Dixons, looking at that beautiful view. Bob would talk about being the treasurer of Essex. He spent hours investing the town’s money. He spent hours listening to what the departments needed to operate. I believe some of the strong financial base for Essex now, was due, in part to Bob Dixon.

But my favorite talks were about the time he spent in the U.S. Air Force and the National Security Agency working in intelligence during the Cold War. Bob was too modest to tell me the story at first. Ann told me. I was intrigued, the town treasurer was a spy! Well, that was my take.

Bob spoke and understood Russian. One time during a mission, Bob and his crew overheard the Russians speaking about a new device. They needed to stay aloft so that Bob could interpret what the Russians were talking about—it was what we now know as Sputnik. I remembered the fear and insecurity of those times. Russia was ahead of us in the development of a space program. The United States strengthened it’s own space program.

Bob Dixon: an intelligent, thoughtful, dedicated, a family man. A man I was proud to know. Those who knew him will miss Bob Dixon and are glad he made Essex his home.

Lynn Herlihy

Essex