Cal H. Dickinson

Baldwin City – Memorial services for Cal H. Dickinson, 80, Baldwin City, will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at First United Methodist Church in Baldwin City. Inurnment will be at a later date.Mr. Dickinson died Sunday, July 29, 2007, at Overland Park Regional Medical Center.He was born Aug. 23, 1926, in Harleton, Texas, the son of Lillie Belle Rivers and Howard G. Dickinson. He grew up in several small Texas communities and graduated from high school in Taylor, Texas, in 1944. He attended Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in education in 1953. He later attended the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and received his divinity degree in 1961.Mr. Dickinson served during World War II in the U.S. Navy Signal Corps as a quartermaster, third class, in the South Pacific. He was honorably discharged in June 1946. He had worked in advertising for the Taylor Daily Press and the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, and taught history at Northside Junior High School in Corpus Christi, Texas, for a year. He was an active charter member of Aldersgate Methodist Church. While attending seminary, he served as a student pastor in the communities of Ben Hur and Chatfield, Texas. He then moved to Kansas and served as pastor at United Methodist churches in Sylvia, Hutchinson, Kinsley, Fort Scott, Junction City, Sabetha and Neodesha. He retired from full-time active ministry in June 1991 and served the rural parish of Vassar after he retired. Mr. Dickinson was involved in the First United Methodist Church of Baldwin City and served on the Kansas East Conference Board of Ordained Ministry and the History and Archives Committee. He was a member of the Douglas County Democratic Party and was a precinct committeeman and election officer for a number of years. He supported the Baldwin City Arts Council, Friends of the Library and community theater. He enjoyed golfing, long walks and working in his yard.He married Ruth Lanette Lewis on June 2, 1950. They shared more than 57 years of marriage. She survives, of the home.Other survivors include a son, David A. and wife Sahja Cove, Lawrence; a daughter, Laura L. Dickinson and spouse Elvyn Jones, Baldwin City; a brother, Hobart, Alvin, Texas; two sisters, Ellen Ruth Lee, Austin, Texas, and Betty Lou Hunter, Hitchcock, Texas; two grandchildren, Anya R. and Caleb R. Dickinson-Cove.Mr. Dickinson was preceded in death by his parents and a sister, Eloise Clemmer.The family will receive friends from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday at the church.The family suggests memorials to the Missions Committee of First United Methodist Church, sent in care of Lamb-Roberts Funeral Home, P.O. Box 64, Baldwin City 66006.