Lydia Ann Dickerson

Lydia Ann Dickerson, age 62, devoted wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, aunt, cousin, niece, and loyal friend, was peacefully called home to be with Jesus in the presence of her family on May 3, 2025. Born the middle child of five in Bear, Delaware, to her two loving parents, Kenneth Harold and Mary Louise Alexander, Lydia was raised in a home full of music and joy where Christ was always central. Later, Lydia and her loving husband, Michael Dickerson, designed and together built their first and forever home where they raised their three children. To spend time at the Dickerson home was to have fun, laugh hard, and always enjoy good food prepared by Lydia. Home was always a place where “the more the merrier” rang true; a place to gather and celebrate. When thinking of Lydia, her life, and her legacy, so many memories and stories come to mind that help encapsulate her tender heart and strong spirit. As an infant, Lydia had to wear a cast to correct two dislocated hips from birth until she was 18 months old. Although confined, she was content and very easy going, enjoying lying in her crib, which was often placed outdoors - starting her love of being outside and napping even then! She shared a bedroom with her little sister Marlene, where they played with the kitchen set their father had made them (and is still being used by next generations), or played school in their room with each other and friends. Her business skills started young when she made potholders on a loom and sold them to neighbors for 25 cents each. She spent hours outdoors making mud pies and once got in trouble for picking ALL of Mrs. Britton’s roses to give to her mother. Childhood friends grew to become lifelong friends and a part of her family. She spent a lot of time playing and coloring with the beloved neighbor with special needs, Peggy. She loved attending Fairwinds Church, where she was active in the Sunday School (she often spoke of how she was enthralled with Mrs. Reimer’s Jr. Church), choral groups, and youth group. Growing up, Lydia enjoyed playing with her family and friends, swimming in the family pool, visiting relatives in North Carolina, and going on family camping trips. She was very involved in school activities such as cheerleading and softball, and was the first female at Wilmington Christian School to receive the Chris Landry award for Christian character and sportsmanship. The Alexander home was a hub of activity where friends and family gathered on Sunday evenings after church for homemade doughnuts, fellowship, and playing instruments. Often, there were family picnics at the house or at Uncle Mel and Aunt Joanne’s, where the cousins took turns churning the ice cream and playing together. When the family moved to Countryside Lane, Lydia was thrilled to get Blondie the horse so she could ride and care for her; she enjoyed every aspect of horse ownership - even hauling the hay and mucking the stalls. Her childhood instilled faith and a sense of joy, compassion for others, and appreciation for life that would continue her entire life. She would always say, “It’s all good.” Lydia and her devoted husband Mike met while water skiing at a Fairwinds youth event. Later her family invited Mike to stay with them during their family vacation at Rehoboth Beach. Mike always said from the moment he met her he said to himself, “I’m going to marry that girl.” They were married within a year of meeting and their wedding was officiated by Mike’s father, Reverend Stanley Dickerson in 1982 at the Alexander home. It was a beautiful August day for a backyard wedding surrounded by family and friends. Lydia and Mike achieved many of their goals together and built a beautiful life and family. Together they built their house and they built their businesses. Lydia was involved in coaching sports, hosting backyard VBS, leading AWANA children’s ministry, attended ladies Bible study groups, and went on a mission trip with her daughter to Belize. She adored her horse, Sadie, and enjoyed riding with her daughter, Alex, and friends. Lydia trained for two long distance endurance races and even trailered her horse to go for a ride at the beach. She valued family vacations to the mountain home in North Carolina, fishing trips, the local summer carnival in Wachapreague, Virginia, and spending time on the water crabbing and floating in a tube at Taylor’s Island. Lydia adored being a mother and could not wait to be a grandmother. She was THRILLED when Marlee was born. She loved her children fiercely and she prayed for her children, family, and friends consistently. Even during her illness, she was always adding to her long prayer list and her faith never wavered. You would often find Lydia sitting on her porch reading her Bible, studying her devotions, and spending time in prayer. She always had a generous spirit - helping others in every way possible - saying “You can’t outgive God”. She LOVED people - saying “Love you bunches”, and “When I count my blessings, I count you twice”. Within the last few weeks of her life she explored ideas of starting a ministry of sharing testimonies to encourage one another. Lydia’s energy was amazing and she was always looking for ways to serve God. She was a Godly woman by choice and she served Jesus until May 3, 2025 and continues to do kingdom work now from the heavens above. Lydia LOVED life! If you were around her, you would definitely have FUN, laugh hard, and eat…Lydia was a wonderful cook and she loved to feed people. Lydia’s laugh was absolutely contagious - loud and wonderful - laughing-till-you cry laughter. “Soup Queen” was the name given to her because if you had so much as a sniffle, you received her delicious soup. She was so spontaneous and was always game for a new adventure. She loved thrifting and antiquing, especially with her son, Wes. They loved hunting for a good deal together. (She was drawn to antique glassware and dishes - While shopping, Lydia’s response to “Step away from the dishes, Lydia” was always “I can’t help it! I have dishues!”) Gardening and then giving away her vegetables was another passion. Lydia also loved listening to Southern Gospel, old-school country, and Bluegrass music. She was known to silly dance in the kitchen and at weddings. To Lydia, a beach trip with the girls wouldn’t be complete without King Tut fudge from Candy Kitchen, and Thrashers french fries. Crafting and playing games were also favorite pastimes and always filled with lots of bantering and laughing. The Dickerson home is where everyone felt welcome to gather during holidays, with Easter as her favorite to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. Christmas always included lots of decorations such as a sparkling tree with lots of tinsel, her antique metal tree with vintage ornaments, and a Christmas village displayed on tables built by Mike. At her annual chocolate dipping parties with her dear friends, guests would make special crafts, play games, and enjoy lots of holiday foods. One recent Christmas, she dressed up her nephews and nieces, and they put on a skit of the Christmas Story of Baby Jesus during the family gathering. She always wanted to keep Jesus in the forefront and considered her work, family, and friendships her ministry. Ever since she was a young girl, Lydia watched her mother do hair in their family salon and dreamed of becoming a hairstylist while practicing on her Crissy Doll. When she went away to Lynchburg College, Lydia earned money by doing hair and would spend the money on pizza for everyone and gifts for fellow students. She became a skilled stylist and built a very special community around her clients, who became like family. The “Steel Magnolia” style salon was full of stories, both happy and sad - lots of laughter and sometimes tears. Lydia had a good listening ear, gave words of encouragement, and was eager to share her love of Jesus. Everyone who entered the salon left feeling beautiful, loved, and encouraged. She always found time to do hair for her shut-in customers and for the Sunday Breakfast Mission. Lydia even taught her son, Wes how to cut hair and showed him the ropes on how to run Fairwinds Barbershop. Lydia knew how to simplify her full life and didn’t sweat the small stuff with a philosophy of “It is what it is.” She had keen match-making skills, which were used to get her son, Colby and daughter-in-law Allysa together. Cupid's arrow struck true and watching her son become a husband and father brought so much joy to her heart. After retiring, she claimed she was “still employed by Cupid” and Cupid's arrow struck a few other times with some dear friends. Another of her accomplished goals was to author and publish a children’s book, an autobiography of sorts, which she wrote about enjoying horses for a lifetime called “A Horse of Course.” Before going to Mexico for treatment last year, Lydia wrote a list with her left hand of “Why I Want to Live”. It so encapsulates the heart of Lydia and there are many life lessons for us as we continue this life: “I want to live! -To tell others about Jesus -For my family- to support and enjoy happy moments :) -To love and spoil Marlee -To support and love on Marlene’s girls and children - To enjoy my fun mom - My husband, I want to be his helpmate - Enjoy my friends more and church family - My horse, ride again - Gardening, share our veggies, eat our veggies - Redwood Forest” During her hospital stay the Literary Artwork program helped Lydia write this poem about her family: “Because They Love Each Other My family is the most beautiful thing. There are seven of us. Michael and I are married for 42 years. He’s strong. Alex is full of joy. Wesley is kind and generous. Colby is a wonderful husband, And Allysa loves my son so much. Marlee is just joy. My family is loving and kind. They are beautiful, because they love each other.” Lydia is survived by her husband, Michael Dickerson, children Alex Dickerson, Wes Dickerson, Colby (Alyssa) Dickerson, her adored granddaughter “Hi Beautiful” Marlee, mother, Mary Louise Alexander, brother Mark (Dana) Alexander, sister Mary (Ed) Street, brother Matt (Jacyln) Alexander, mother-in-law Betty Dickerson, sister-in-law Donna Bailey, and a multitude of aunts and uncles, nephews, nieces and grand nieces and grand nephews. She was preceded in death by her dear father, Kenneth Harold Alexander, beloved sister Marlene Anderson, father-in-law Stanley Dickerson, and great niece Amelia Manley. The family would like to thank everyone for the prayers, cards, visits, donations, meals, calls, and texts received during this journey. Lydia always looked for ways to show appreciation to the nurses / medical assistants at Penn Medicine that took beautiful care of her. With love and gratitude, Lydia handed out her diamond dot crafts, cookies, and always spoke about her faith. Thank you for your continued dedication to celebrating and remembering Lydia’s life. Celebrate Lydia’s life with us on Monday May 12th, 2025. Viewing hours from 10am- 12pm with a Celebration Service to follow at 12pm and following up with the burial at 1:15pm. All services will be held at Eastern Shore Bible Baptist Church, located at 13984 Gregg Neck Rd. Galena, MD 21635. A live broadcast will be available as well for those unable to attend in person. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to a ministry of your choice. To send flowers, follow the link below. Please kindly avoid including lily flowers if possible. For those of you unable to attend the service it will be livestreamed starting at 12 PM. Please click the link. https://stream.streamingchurch.tv/stream.php?churchid=church9595 Lydia’s Life Verses Psalm 91: 14-16 John 13:34 & 35 Isaiah 53:5

Lydia Ann Dickerson

October 16, 1962 - May 3, 2025

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