Kathleen A Dixon

Kathleen A. Dixon, 89, of Madison, Wi., died on May 19, 2024, with the same conviction, clarity and self-direction she possessed in life.

Mrs. Dixon was born on Sept. 25, 1934, in Sheboygan to parents James and Esther Miley (nee Kunze). Mrs. Dixon spent her pre-school years in Sheboygan and recalled many happy memories of time spent with her Kunze and Miley grandparents.

In the early 1940s the family relocated to Milwaukee, where her mother, Esther, was the housekeeping supervisor at the Hotel Medford. Mrs. Dixon graduated from Walter Allen Elementary School in 1949 and Milwaukee Vocational and Adult School (now MATC) in 1957.

While attending MATC Mrs. Dixon met the love of her life, Eugene A. Dixon, and they married in 1958. They were constant companions, compatriots and devoted spouses until his death in Milwaukee in 2005.

Early in their marriage Mrs. Dixon worked for six years as a telephone operator for AC Sparkplug Division of General Motors in the Kenilworth Building in downtown Milwaukee. She attended UW Milwaukee from 1961 to 1962 and then redirected her efforts to have two children, Kari Dixon in 1964 and James Dixon in 1967.

After Mr. Dixon completed his master’s degree in social work the family relocated to Weyerhaeuser, Wis., in 1969, where they lived and worked for a decade.

In 1972 Mrs. Dixon obtained her real estate broker’s license. She owned and operated Dixon Realty from 1972 to 1979 in Rusk County, Wisconsin, where she specialized in lake properties and new construction homes.

In 1974 the family moved from a lake home to a forty-acre wooded property that became a thriving hobby farm. Mrs. Dixon completed the bookkeeping tasks and performed the daily chores related to the care of animals, including feeding, watering and, when necessary, birthing. At its height the small farm was home to 16 pigs, 2 goats, 2 cows, 25 chickens, 7 ducks and 5 geese.

In April 1978 Mrs. Dixon ran for a seat on the Weyerhaeuser School Board due to dissatisfaction with the performance of the incumbent. Mrs. Dixon came in second in a four-way race, beating the incumbent by garnering 208 votes to his 189.

In 1979 the family moved to Kenosha, where they lived until Mr. Dixon’s retirement from his school social work career with the Kenosha Unified School District in 1991.

In the 1980s Mrs. Dixon worked as a retail bookkeeper and assisted her children with the details and demands of their high school and college educations. She continued to enjoy family events including picnics and gatherings with the Flahart Family at their two-acre home and the annual St. Patrick’s Day gathering with the McMahon Family, despite a severe intolerance for Irish whiskey.

After her husband’s retirement in 1991, Mrs. Dixon continued to work part-time as a bookkeeper while they realized their dream of traveling around the country and living in Florida, Nevada and Arizona. They enjoyed visits with family in California and the Flahart condominium in Ft. Meyers, Fla., was a constant social hot spot.

In 2000 Mrs. Dixon and her husband relocated back to Milwaukee, where they had an active family social life, which included the birth of four grandchildren. Mrs. Dixon’s most joyous activity was hosting holiday celebrations, lunches, dinners or a pop-in-visit. She believed food and social interaction were intertwined and the absence of shared nosh was unacceptable.

Mrs. Dixon resided in Milwaukee until she relocated to Madison in 2020.

A favorite childhood ritual Mrs. Dixon often recalled was trips on the train with her older brother Roger from Milwaukee to Green Bay to see the Packers play at Lambeau Field. She remained a devoted football fan her whole life and always liked a close game decided in over-time.

Mrs. Dixon’s favorite memories as a teenager were riding the Milwaukee Streetcar and attending a live concert performance of heartthrob singer/accordionist Dick Contino at the Riverside Theatre.

Mrs. Dixon was a proud patient of Planned Parenthood in Milwaukee after her marriage and staunchly supported a woman’s right to make her own reproductive and family planning choices.

Mrs. Dixon’s foray into electoral politics as a candidate was no fluke. Her father, James Miley, was a union organizer at the Kohler Company in Sheboygan at the time she was born. His extensive union organizing experience sparked an interest in electoral politics and he subsequently represented the people of the fifth ward on the Sheboygan City Council as a progressive alderman from 1942 to 1944.

After his death in 1964, his family received a special condolence communication reflecting on his political skills from the state senator of the 20th District of Wisconsin at the time, Ernest Keppler, who had served as an alderman with him in Sheboygan in the 1940s.

This family background imbued Mrs. Dixon with an unwavering commitment to social justice and contempt for corporate greed and exploitation.

Mrs. Dixon voted in every election since she was eligible until 2020. She only voted for Democrats and strongly endorsed the philosophy and policies of Edward Kennedy, Paul Wellstone and Bernie Sanders. She often chided her husband during the Watergate hearings that she had voted for George McGovern while he had not. More recently she refused to provide voting information to her sister-in-law Edna in 2016 when she discovered Edna was planning to vote for Donald Trump.

In recent years Mrs. Dixon enjoyed reading (favorite biographies Anais Nin: A Biography by Diedre Bair and Just Kids by Patti Smith) and works of Annie Proulx and Joan Didion. Her favorite films were Double Indemnity, Dial M For Murder, Brokeback Mountain and Chicago. Her favorite music was the early songs of Carly Simon and later outlaw albums and concerts of Willie Nelson.

Mrs. Dixon is survived by her daughter Kari Dixon (Victor), son James Dixon (Valerie), stepsons Eugene “Sandy” Dixon (Kim) and Dale Dixon, grandsons Jacob Dixon, John Dixon, Jax Dixon and Michael Dixon, niece Sharon Dielehner (Tom), brother-in-law Robert L. Dixon, nephew Donald E. Flahart Jr (Butch), niece Debra Kumm, niece Denise Brandt, niece Pat Pokela (Darryl), niece Kathy Kuchler (Richard), niece Jackie Maxwell, niece Colleen Rappa (Dave) and additional great nieces and nephews.

Mrs. Dixon had the joy and honor of celebrating her 85th Birthday in 2019 with a community party with family and friends. She wanted this celebration of her life to occur while she was around to participate in lieu of a funeral service. She carried that happy memory with her until her death.

Mrs. Dixon was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, her brothers Arden Meyer and Roger Meyer, sister-in-law Stella Meyer, brother-in-law Donald Flahart, sister-in-law Edna Flahart, brother-in-law John McMahon, sister-in-law Eugenia McMahon, brother-inlaw Marrel Dixon and brother-in-law Richard Dixon.

A special thanks to nephew Donald E. Flahart Jr (Butch) for coordinating the mother’s Milwaukee social schedules; Amelia Sofia Valle and the Valle family for their long friendship and continued contact; Marquisha Wright for illustrating the power of love knows no cultural or racial boundaries; and the direct care staff and RN Stacey who provided loving, patient and compassionate care to Mrs. Dixon in her care setting until the end.

Finally, an extra special thanks to her first-born grandson, Jacob Dixon, who was her recent caregiver and companion as well as devoted grandson since his birth. Knowing him was one of the greatest joys of her life.

To honor the memory of Mrs. Dixon the family asks you to cherish your family, support women’s reproductive rights, oppose corporate greed and vote Democratic.

An inurnment of Mrs. and Mr. Dixon in the Miley family plot in Sheboygan will be scheduled in the fall (her favorite time of year) with a luncheon to follow.