Former mayor passes away
DIXON » Former Dixon Mayor Don Erickson, universally remembered as a kind, outgoing, beloved and humble man with a gift for storytelling, died Saturday in Paso Robles where he was visiting a daughter during the Thanksgiving weekend.
He leaves a legacy that, during his tenure on the City Council in the latter part of the 20th century, saw a continuing shift from the city’s largely agriculturebased economy to an increasingly diversified one, with more businesses, housing and population growth.
He was 84 and reportedly suffered a heart attack.
Born in Great Falls, Montana, in 1936, Erickson was the son of farmers, attended public schools and later graduated from the University of Montana. He pursued a dentistry degree from Northwestern University School of Dentistry, and married his wife, Marcia, a former Dixon Unified school teacher who predeceased him earlier this year.
He entered the Air Force as a commissioned officer and, for a time, was stationed at Travis Air Force Base, where he worked as a dentist. After leaving the Air Force, he and Marcia settled in Dixon in 1964 and he opened a dental practice in town.
People recalled Erickson, who, for many years, also served on the DUSD governing board, as a gentle, friendly, down- to- earth and good- humored man whose accomplishments in his civic life will have a lasting effect.
Jack Batchelor, like Erickson a former city councilman and former mayor until 2016, remembered him “as just a very kind and gentle individual.”
“You could disagree with Don, but there was never any vitriol,” he added. “He was a great storyteller and would tell stories about growing up in Montana and going off to college.”
Batchelor’s wife worked in Erickson’s dental office for a couple of years and, he said, Erickson’s “primary purpose was to treat his patients with dignity and respect and take care of their dental needs.”
“He wasn’t the sort of person where you had to pay now,” recalled Batchelor. “He was just a great, all- around man, very dedicated
to his profession and also dedicated to the goodness and well- being of the City of Dixon. He was patient and would listen to people at meetings. He gave everyone a chance to speak, whatever their cause.”
Erickson also was a founding member of the Travis Regional Armed Forces Committee, which Batchelor described as “the bridge” between the Air Force and civilian community members across Solano County.
“That organization is still very active today,” he noted. “Those kinds of things will make him a living legend in the City of Dixon. We have had many people in Dixon who passed before him and brought goodness and he was one of them.”
After Erickson retired from dentistry, he worked for the Cooley family, owners of Cool Patch Pumpkins, the well- known corn maze and pumpkin patch in Dixon, where he would help harvest their crops, Batchelor said.
Erickson also was “engaged” with downtown business owners while serving on the City Council “and knew them by their first name,” he recalled, adding that Erickson “worked very hard to preserve ( Dixon) agriculture.”
“We’re all very saddened by the loss,” said Batchelor. “No matter who you were, Don always smiled and said hello. He was an all- around good person. The world could use many more like him.”