[Note: Irene Dixon was a wonderful lady. She was descended from Reuben Logan, a Union Civil War veteran, and Anna Guthrie (Logan). This obituary was posted online by the Searby Funeral Homes of DuQuoin and Tamaroa, Illinois.]
M. Irene Dixon (January 28, 1928 — March 12, 2019)
M. Irene Dixon, 91, of Du Quoin, passed away … Tuesday, March 12, 2019 at her residence.
Irene had been owner and teacher at Park-A-Tot Nursery School for thirty years. She began her career at Lower Arm School in 1946. Irene graduated from Pinckneyville High School in 1945 and then graduated from SIU in the early 1950s. She had also worked on her master’s degree. Irene was a member of the First Christian Church in DuQuoin, where she had been a deacon and an elder. At the church, she was also President of C.W.F. and was in charge of the rummage sales. She was also a member of the Marshall Browning Hospital Auxiliary, Perry County Historical Society, Perry County Jail Museum, Red Hat Society, Order of the Eastern Star, V.F.W. Auxiliary, and D.A.R. Irene was a founding member of the A-Wa-We-Go Camping Tribe and served as Chaplin.
She was born January 28, 1928 at Pinckneyville, IL, the daughter of Roy Arkell and Carrie Gladys (Williamson) Pursell.
She married Curtis E. Dixon on March 8, 1952 at Pinckneyville, IL, and he preceded her in death on December 20, 1981.
She is survived by four children — Sue Dixon of Pinckneyville, Todd Dixon of DuQuoin, Clay Dixon and wife Evelyn of Carterville, and Kent Dixon of DuQuoin, two sisters — Norma Jones of West Frankfort and Sharon Wright of Pinckneyville, three grandchildren — Seth Dixon and wife Nicole of DuQuoin, Cory Dixon of New Baden, and Emily Crain and husband Stephen of Chesterfield, MO, nine great grandchildren — Collin Dixon, Kylie Dixon, Emmett Crain, Alden Dixon, Matthew Rees, Michael Daniel, Makayla Davis, David Peters, Dayonna Peters and one on the way, and several nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, three brothers — Carl Pursell, Ed Pursell, and Wilford Andrew Pursell in infancy, two brothers-in-law — Kenneth Junior Jones and Stuart Wright, and three sisters-in-law — Isabelle Pursell, Theresa Pursell and Patricia Pursell.
Funeral services will be at 10:00 A.M., Monday, March 18, 2019 at the Searby Funeral Home in DuQuoin with David Gross officiating.
Burial will be in the Sunset Memorial Park at DuQuoin.
Friends may make memorials to the Marshall Browning Hospital Tree of Life, First Christian Church in DuQuoin, or the donor’s choice and will be accepted at the funeral home.
