Obituary of Uel Stephen Dixon

Dixon, Rev. Uel S., 98, of St. Petersburg, died Thursday Feb. 10, 2000 at Bayfront Medical Center as the result of a severe fall. Born in Booker Creek, FL near Palm Harbor in 1902. He was raised on a farm near Port Richey, known then as Elfers, Fla. He landed an entry level job at the Tarpon Springs Leader where Mr. Edgar Mann taught him how to set type for the weekly newspaper. Later on and after a few other odd jobs, he decided to open Dixon?s Dry Cleaners on Sanford Ave. in Tarpon. During all this time he was active in the Church and a long-time member of First United Methodist in the city. He also acted as a lay minister at other churches in the area. After 25 years and having built a successful business in the dry cleaning industry, he was led by the Lord to enter the ministry and accepted a pastorate at the Interbay Methodist Church in Tampa leading the congregation there for seven 7 years and attending Emory University School of Theology during the summer months. He eventually secured his formal requirements for ordination and was received into the Florida Methodist Conference as the first fifty year old in Conference history. He later served at Hialeah Methodist in South, Florida, Northside Methodist in St. Petersburg and retired from First Church in Arcadia at age 65. Since that time he has been an active participant at Wesley United Methodist Church in St. Pete., teaching Bible classes and preaching when needed. He is survived by one daughter, Joyce D. Gause of St. Petersburg; one son, Donald L. Dixon of Greensboro, NC; four grandchildren, three great grandchildren and one great great grandchild.