Page 56 - Alumni Horae: Vol. 93, No. 4 Summer 2013

1942
Stephen Whitney
“Whit” Dickey
devoted husband and father and generous
supporter of the School and his commu-
nity, died peacefully on February 21, 2013,
at his home in Lebanon, N.H., surrounded
by loved ones. He was 89.
Born November 14, 1923, he was the son
of Charles D. Dickey Jr. of the Form of
1911 and Catherine Colt Dickey of New
York City and grandson of Charles D.
Dickey of the Form of 1878. He attended
Chestnut Hill Academy in Philadelphia
prior to joining the St. Paul’s community
as a Second Former in the fall of 1937.
Mr. Dickey quickly took to athletics while
living in Millville, playing SPS football
and Old Hundred hockey and rowing with
Shattuck. He was a member of the Choir
and Der Deutsche Verein.
Mr. Dickey entered Yale University,
where he was the starting center on the
freshman football team before enlisting
in the Army Air Corps in World War II.
He was serving as 2nd Lieutenant fighter
pilot of a P-47 Thunderbolt when a fire in
his plane forced him to bail out over Italy.
The tail of the plane shattered both of his
legs, but he was saved when his parachute
opened at 500 feet and he landed on a
springy, barbed wire fence. He spent a year
recovering in various hospitals before
returning to Yale, where he graduated
with the Class of 1945.
Mr. Dickey began his career with Ameri-
can Brakeshoe Company in Mahwah, N.J.,
and later Philadelphia. In 1953, he married
Closey Virden Faulkner of Richmond, Va.
Together the couple raised six children.
During Mr. Dickey’s time with Brakeshoe,
the family lived in New York City, New
Canaan, Conn., Wayne, Ill., and Saddle
River, N.J. In 1960, Mr. Dickey became
president of First National Bank of North
Bennington, Vt., (later renamed Catamount
1943
John Battice Ford III
died December 31,
2012, at his home
in John’s Island,
Fla. He was 88.
The only child of
John B. Ford Jr.
and Katharine
Tanner Ford, Mr.
Ford was born in
Detroit on July 3,
1924. He entered St. Paul’s School as a
Second Former in 1938, where he was a
member of Old Hundred and Shattuck.
While at SPS, he participated in the
Acolytes’ Guild, the Missionary Society,
the Scientific Club, the Radio Club, and
the Library Association. He left the School
in December 1942 to join the U.S. Coast
Guard – the first St. Paul’s student to
leave Millville for World War II. He served
until 1946.
St. Paul’s School awarded Mr. Ford an
honorary diploma in absentia on June 13,
1947, after his first completed year of
college at Yale. He graduated from Yale
in 1950.
A faithful supporter to the School, he
felt very strongly about his affiliation
with SPS. “It has been a great backup to
my life and my religious background,” he
once wrote.
Mr. Ford lived in Grosse Pointe Farms
and Harbor Springs, Mich., and Indian
River Shores, Fla.. His professional inter-
ests were in the import/export trade. He
was active in many nonprofit organiza-
tions, including serving on the board of
Riverside Theatre and as chairman of the
boards of the Detroit Institute of Ophthal-
mology and the American Red Cross
Southeastern Michigan Chapter. Mr. Ford
was a member of the John’s Island Club
of Vero Beach; the Little Harbor Club in
Harbor Springs, Mich.; the Country Club
of Detroit; the Grosse Point Club; and the
Yondotega Club in Detroit. He was also a
lifelong member and past senior warden
of Christ Church in Grosse Pointe and
served as senior warden of St. John’s
Episcopal Church in Harbor Springs. He
was a competitive sailor all his life.
National Bank) and in 1973 he was named
president of National Bank of Lebanon
(N.H.). That same year, the Dickeys built a
house on Hardy Hill in Lebanon and trans-
formed the property from an empty lot to
a gardener’s oasis. There they enjoyed the
company of family, including many beloved
dogs. The Dickeys also enjoyed their sum-
mer home “Hard-alee” in Northeast Harbor,
Maine, and later “Quarry Cove,” a seaside
property on Maine’s Mt. Desert Island.
Outside of work, Mr. Dickey was dedi-
cated to lending his expertise to small
businesses in his community, including
SCORE, Planned Parenthood, the Lebanon
Rotary Club, AVA Gallery, Northern Stage,
Vital Communities, and the New Hamp-
shire Charitable Foundation. He was also
a member of the Upper Valley Land Trust,
Kilton Library, and Camarata New England.
The Dickeys shared a love of the arts and
also supported Alice Peck Day Hospital,
the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
College, and the Dartmouth Institute. In
its June 24, 2013, edition, the Valley News
(www.vnews.com) paid tribute to the
community contributions of Mr. Dickey,
calling him “the most significant example
of a person leading by doing.”
Mr. Dickey remained loyal to St. Paul’s,
serving as a form agent for several years,
and was an invested supporter of the
Advanced Studies Program, making the
largest gift ever in support of the program
and serving as a founding member of the
ASP Advisory Committee.
He was the proud father of two alumni,
John V. Dickey ’77 and Clo D. Giffen ’82;
uncle to Robert M. Dickey ’79 and George
N. Lindsay ’66; great-uncle to Kyle B.
Dickey ’13 and Charles L. Dickey ’15; and
grandfather to Samuel S. Dickey ’16. Whit
and Closey Dickey perpetuated the gen-
erosity of the Dickey family at St. Paul’s,
including regular communication about
seven family-endowed funds that provide
support for financial aid, faculty support,
the arts, and School visitors.
Mr. Dickey is survived by Closey Dickey,
his beloved wife of 59 years; two sisters,
Mary Lindsay and Cathy Brown; five chil-
dren, Whit, Lawrence, John ’77, Christo-
pher Colt, and Clo Giffen ’82; and 10
grandchildren, including Samuel ’16. He
was predeceased by his brother, Charles D.
Dickey Jr. ’36, and his son, Don Dickey.
DECEASED
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