Wednesday, May 1, 2024
According to his daughter, James Dixon was greatly anticipating his 100th birthday. He woke up a little after midnight on the day of his birthday and thought to himself, “I made it.”
James Dixon, the son of Alvis and Vida Tippit Dixon, was born at home on Oct. 3, 1923, in the Hubbard community of Coryell County. Hubbard was located in southeastern Coryell County, and in its heyday, had a grocery store, a gas station, a blacksmith shop, and a two-teacher school. At the time of his birth, Warren Harding was president of the United States.
“I was born at home. No hospital. No record of my birth. So, later I had a hard time getting a birth certificate, because everyone that knew of my birth was gone.”
Dixon, who was raised on Owl Creek, attended the Longview School located in Cold Springs. “It went up to the 8th grade, and after that I went to Flat High School,” he said.
“I dropped out in 10th grade when my Daddy got sick, and I went to Temple and got a job to help feed the family. I was the oldest of six children. A year after working in Temple, in 1942, they drafted me, Uncle Sam got me, and I was in the service for three years. I spent two of those years fighting Hitler,” Dixon said.
“I received $21 per month in the army and was able to send money home to help out,” Dixon recalled.
During World War II, Dixon said, “I was over there during the Battle of the Bulge. The guns were going off like something you would hear at Fort Hood. All I can say is that our Heavenly Father is what saved me and that’s what’s given me a hundred years on this earth.”
Considering the fact that his forefathers were German immigrants, when asked about fighting the Germans during the war, Dixon called upon his patriotism to the United States. “I told everybody, my job is that I’m killing my kinfolks. This is the way it had to be.”
Eventually, the Germans were defeated, and Dixon was sent back to England to a school on fuses and bombs in preparation for the battle taking place in Japan.
“I got to the door of the college, and they told us to go back to the dorms, the United States had just dropped the atomic bomb. I felt God had saved me again,” Dixon said.
After the war, Dixon returned to Coryell County and soon afterwards, married his sweetheart, Allene Fischer. “We were married within two weeks,” he said. “She raised me three outstanding children.”
After returning home, Dixon went into the meat (sausage) business and later had a lumber yard and a construction business. To name just a few, Dixon built the Gatesville Masonic Lodge, Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Grant’s Drive In, not to mention between 200 and 300 homes in Gatesville.
“To be just an old country boy without much education, I’ve had a lot of training alright,” he said. “I tell my children that I came up in the best of times and learned a great deal.”
In speaking of his wife, Dixon said “I’ve been married to the same woman for 77 years. We were married on the 28th day of December 1945. She is now 98 years old.” When asked what the secret was to a long and happy marriage, he replied “It’s the way you live. Christianity in marriage is a big thing. If you believe in God, like my wife and me, we were raised to believe in the Master.”
On celebrating his 100th birthday, Dixon said “My family got a room here and they had a big birthday celebration for me, and you’ve never seen anything like it. We had pizza and cake, and I can’t count how many people were there.”
On reaching this memorable birthday, Dixon said “God, you’ve done it again.” Dixon realizes that his life was spared during World War II, he has had a successful life and family, and has lived a century - which is a remarkable testimony to share with others.
