Michael Leonard Dixon passed away January 1, 2024. He died peacefully at home under the care of Hospice due to congestive heart failure and COPD.

Mike was born June 7, 1944, the morning after D-Day, in Weatherford, Texas. When he was seven years old, the family moved to Bakersfield, California, later settling in Corpus Christi.  He attended Ebony Acres Elementary, Driscoll and South Park Junior High, Mary Carroll High School and Del Mar College.  During holidays and summers, to earn extra money, he worked shining shoes at his uncle's barber shop, also delivering arrangements from My Florist and Greenhouse on Kostoryz Rd; then working for Clark Dickson Paving and Construction Company.  He said he was honored to meet Mr. H E Butt during one hot summer's parking lot job.

Mike married his high school sweetheart, studied hard at barber school and became a young barber working with his beloved uncle Bob Gilbert at Modern Barber Shop on Gollihar Rd, next to Nichols Pharmacy. He moved on to South Park Barber Shop, then Shannen Barber Shop where he enjoyed cutting the hair of the Carroll Tigers High School football team, coaches, policemen, firemen, city officials and hardworking dads and sons.  After he retired, many still sought him out for haircuts on his patio, enjoying his jokes and jovial personality.

During these years, Mike formed Dixon Upholstery Service, recovering and redesigning many pieces of furniture and restoring antiques for family and friends, working long hours during the night to make ends meet for his young family.

Mike left barbering to become an airboat salesman for AirGator Airboats out of Orlando, Florida.  He worked alongside Pastor Lester Roloff and the wayward boys at the Lighthouse located in the Land Cut, rounding up fish with his airboat for the boys to gig washtubs full of huge fish for their dinner tables.

With his outgoing personality and ability to enjoy and work with all people, Mike was offered the Customer Service Manager position at Lacks Furniture Store on SPID, where he was soon promoted to Assistant Manager. He worked many happy hours with store manager Jimmy Bureig and credit manager Randy Mladenka. When he was promoted to store manager in Temple; he said no, never wanting to leave the coast and fishing.

He began working in the oilfield with his dad "Punchy" Dixon, selling and installing primary cementing equipment, scratchers and centralizers. He soon realized the need for and developed his own drilling lubricant for directional drilling. He serviced drilling rigs throughout south, central and east Texas, covering many miles. He became a drilling consultant and sat on rig sites, admired for his knowledge and dedication to completion insuring a producing oil well.

Mike's life had its ups and downs. He suffered a major heart attack in 1992, causing the loss of blood circulation to the bottom third of his heart. He underwent triple bypass surgery and learned to take life a little easier, enjoying every precious moment. He had another heart attack in 2010 and received two stents, which saved his life with moments to spare. In 2015 he suffered brain bleeds in the lower pontine area of the brain resulting in a small stroke.

Like the energizer bunny, he bounced back and kept going, and lived life to the fullest, defeating the odds of predicted shortened life expectancy.

Mike formed lasting friendships with Texas Parks and Wildlife employees volunteering at Coastal Expo events in and around Austin and the Texas coast. He felt honored to be one of the nominees for outstanding volunteer of the year for his many hours helping the Outdoor Explorers youth outreach program. His love of caring for and protecting the environment for the next generation enhanced his passion.

Thanks to his youthful adventures in the Boy Scouts, Mike loved all things outdoors –golfing, fishing, hunting, raising cattle, mending fences, building deer feeders and timers, watching wildlife, starry nights and campfires. He was an avid fisherman and enjoyed early mornings wade fishing on the Portland Reef and along the bayfront with good friend and fishing buddy, Roy Richards.  He loved boat fishing the Laguna Madre Flats with church friends Slats Reeves and Ed Hunt, bringing home fresh fish every trip to share with friends and family. His success in catching and sharing began the annual Covenant Memorial Day Fish Fry.

He was a long-time member of Covenant Baptist Church, renamed Safe Harbor.  He loved and enjoyed his church family and working with the youth during Vacation Bible School and hosting hot dog and hamburger cookouts on his patio. He especially enjoyed teaching the young men boating, fishing, hunting, golfing while sharing his love of God, Country and Family, instilling values he believed every young man should know.

Mike liked to say he was dragged kicking and screaming on the Walk to Emmaus in 2005. After the first night he wanted to leave, but God had other plans and convinced him to stay. He sat with a fellow table mate, who was partially handicapped, and feeling protective, helped him experience every event. When it came time to go home, Mike was so overwhelmed with God's purpose, love and grace he didn't want to leave. He knew he was on a mission to help others and show God's grace through actions, words and deeds. His generosity, known and anonymous, was genuine and heartfelt.

Mike was preceded in death by his mother Charlsie Nell Wood Dixon and father Leonard "Punchy" Dixon. He is survived by his loving wife of 61 years Jimmie Nell (Meeks) Dixon of Corpus Christi and daughter Andrea Dixon (Harris) Phillips of Jacksonville, Florida; his younger brothers Pat (Marie) Dixon, and Jim Dixon of Corpus Christi; sister Betty Dixon (George) Holland of San Antonio; niece Lori Dixon (Bryan) Holland of Corpus Christi, nephew Kevin Dixon of Vancouver, Washington; niece Caitlin Dixon (Carlos) Obregon of Corpus Christi and aunt Nancy Wood (Richard) Howard of Lubbock Texas; and especially the young men he loved to call his own sons – Jim Becka, Frankie Eicholz, Brandon Ward, Spencer Pearce, Travis Brownlee.

We would like to thank Nurses on Wheels Hospice for the wonderful care they provided Mike.

A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, February 17 at 4:00PM at Safe Harbor Fellowship , (located at the corner of Santa Fe and Sinclair, in First Christian Church at the south end of the building/fellowship hall), with a meal for family and friends to follow.