Katharine Dix

Sebring, OH -- Katharine E. Stevens Dix, wife of the late Gordon C. Dix, a principal in Dix Communications' media business, died Saturday, October 18, 2014, at her home in the Copeland Oaks retirement community. She was 96. Born in Ravenna, Ohio, January 8, 1918, she was the daughter of Dr. Earl Orin Stevens and his wife, Helen Brigham Stevens. She graduated from Ravenna High School in 1935 and Hood College, in Frederick, MD, in 1939. She graduated with a major in botany. Landscaping and trees continued to be an interest throughout her life. After graduation she returned to Ravenna and in 1940 married Gordon C. Dix, then business manager of the Record-Courier, the Kent-Ravenna daily paper. In 1941 her husband was named co-publisher of The Times Leader in Martins Ferry-Bellaire, OH. In 1952 her husband was named publisher of the The Crescent-News, Defiance, OH. In 1954 her husband was stricken with polio a year before the development and successful testing of the Salk vaccine. A determined, encouraging and loving wife, Mrs. Dix devoted herself to her husband the rest of his life as they dealt with numerous challenges resulting from his illness. Then, in 1982, her son Earl Stevens Dix, who had followed his father as publisher of The Crescent-News, was killed in a private airplane accident. Mrs. Dix had years earlier lost her brother, Earl Orin Stevens Jr., who was killed in World War II in an airplane-training mission at Mt. Hood, Oregon. She and her husband, active supporters of Defiance College, responded to their son's death by establishing the E.S. Dix lectureship and the E.S. Dix Tennis Center at the college in their son's memory. Besides her family, she devoted herself to the Defiance community, where she served in numerous leadership roles. She served in Sorosis, was president of the Defiance College Women's Commission, was director of the local Girl Scouts, and was involved in the League of Women Voters and the American Red Cross Board. She was a board member and a charter member of the Defiance Hospital Auxiliary. She was one of the co-founders of the Defiance City Shade Tree Commission and was a member of the Defiance Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She and her husband enjoyed the out of doors, tennis, horticultural activities and community involvement. They were both avid sports fans, especially of Ohio State football. In her 50s she completed and achieved her hot-air balloonist license through a program offered by Defiance College. She had a love of serving others, especially those in need. Despite having lost a brother and son in separate airplane accidents and her husband's lifetime post-polio ailments, she maintained a positive outlook on life and kept moving forward. She had a beautiful way with children, and always cheered on the underdogs of any age. She had a unique ability to memorize poetry, speeches, stories and prayers, and until her last days could recite passages from them. She enjoyed studying her heritage. Her ancestors moved to the Ravenna area in the mid-1800s with a group who had decided to begin life anew in what was still considered the West after the whaling industry in Nantucket, Massachusetts, started to decline. That group, having settled in Portage County, proved a progressive influence, particularly in promoting the need for good schools for young people. They were also abolitionist. In 1977 she and her husband began to spend their winters in Naples, Fl., continuing until his death. She maintained her permanent residence in Naples until returning to Ohio in 2006.
Her grandchildren range in age from 7 to 45, and she tried to be instrumental in some way in each of their lives. She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Defiance and Naples. In Defiance she and her late husband served as directors of the youth program and taught Sunday school. She was a member of the Alliance Country Club and a past member of the Rolling Rock Club, Ligonier, PA and Audubon Country Club in Naples, FL. Her husband preceded her in death in 2005, her son, Earl Stevens Dix in 1982. Her sister, Anne Stevens Osgood, also preceded her in death in 1998. Mrs. Dix is survived by three children: Susan (Michael) Watson, of Ligonier PA., Penny (Grant) White, of Mill Valley, CA., and G. Charles (Susie) Dix II, of Akron, OH.; 10 grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren. A memorial service for Katharine S. Dix will be held on Saturday, October 25 at 3 p.m. and a reception immediately following the service. The service and reception will be held at the Copeland Oaks Chapel in Sebring, OH. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Copeland Oaks Foundation, Chapel Fund; 715 S. Johnson, Sebring, OH 44672. Arrangements are by Cassaday-Turkle-Christian Funeral Home, 75 S. Union Ave., Alliance, OH 44601.