Dr. David Dixon was laid to rest today in the West Liberty Cemetary. Click here to learn more about his academic areas of interest in American history, and to see an earlier picture of him with his mullet (!) Funerals for me are absolutely terrifying, but I had to go to his service today because I love his friends, family and wife so much, and wanted to be with them on this terribly sad day. The service was wonderful, Dr. Claire Settlemire gave the eulogy, in addition to being an excellant scholar of historical antiquity, she is also an ordained methodist minister. Comes in handy to have a minister who is Professor Emeritus. Graveside was hard: the grief impossible to bear. To see the casket on top of the grave, to say goodbye and walk away. I tried to express myself to those closest to him. It was a beautiful location to spend eternity: on a hillside, with an beautiful panoramic view of the rolling hills and farms surrounding the cemetary, above a lone hawk did lazy circles enjoying the heat thermals on a hot pennsylvania afternoon. Fortunately, Rich and Amy Martin helped set up a reception and luncheon at the Old Stone House, a favorite location of David's, and everyone little by little starting to eat, drink, talk, and soon there were smiles and even laughter as we tried to separate ourselves from our grief, from an emotionally draining experience. Slippery Rock University will never be the same without David. I make friends poorly, I am not very social, but David was one of my first and best friends at SRU, and I will always miss him.
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