Mildred Lanier Dickerson

Mildred Lanier Dickerson

The celebration honoring the life and legacy of Mrs. Mildred Lanier Dickerson, retired educator and well-known citizen, will be held on Saturday, March 27, 2021 at St. John Missionary Baptist Church. at 3:00 p.m.  Rev. Steven Conley will be the officiant of the services. Interment will follow the services in H.V. Adams Cemetery.. To send flowers, words of comfort or condolences, kindly go to www.lochesmortuaryinc.com.   

Obituary

 Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her.“ Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.” Proverbs 31:28

      Oak Ridge, Louisiana is a small village in the southern corner Morehouse Parish.  Cotton was king and many families lived off the profits of the harvested crop.  On February 14, 1936, Nathaniel Lanier and Mary E. Moore welcomed a baby girl  She was given the name Mildred Patricia Ann Lanier. And, so began the life of a young lady who would touch the lives of thousands of young people as a mother, a mentor, an educator. The mark she left on her community would remain a significant part of Morehouse Parish for years to come.

       When she was ten, Mildred and her sisters were able to leave Oak Ridge and move to Bastrop.  They would attend school in Bastrop, but they would return to Oak Ridge to work.  On the weekends, when the cotton was ready to be picked, they would return to the fields to work. Mildred would look down at her hands covered with thorns, and think to herself: “There has to be a better way!” “There has to be a better way!" One evening, just about dusk, Mildred stopped picking to minister to her bloody hands. She felt someone standing over her, and as she looked up, there stood a young man with shoulders so broad, they blocked out the setting sun. He said his name was Charles - Charles Dickerson. He said he came to help; to pick her cotton for her. A romance began.

          An industrious, bright child, Mildred attended Morehouse High School, graduating in 1954. She knew that the cotton field would not be a part of her future. She set her sights on Southern University in Baton Rouge. Keeping the values of her dad in mind, Mildred worked while she went to school. She worked as an Usher for Sunday Vespers at Southern, and picked other small jobs so she would not have to return to that cotton field.  In three and one half years Mildred graduated and was promptly offered a job in Morehouse Parish. 

          Her love with Charles blossomed. He worked at the paper mill in Pine Bluff, Arkansas; and on  December 16, 1959 Mildred Lanier became Mrs. Charles Dickerson. 

         Charles moved his family back to Bastrop and began working on his family farm, He was about to receive another gift from Mildred. Two years later they were blessed with a baby boy.  Following the family tradition, he was given the name Walter after Charles’ father.  

          Charles, Mildred, and the children became a vital part of the Morehouse community. She was employed by the Morehouse Parish School System at her beloved Eastside Elementary, retired for one year, and then returned to the system for six years as a substitute. Mildred loved horticulture (her yard was always beautiful), traveling, and mentoring. She was an avid fan of the Dallas Cowboys for eighteen years. She was a member of the St. John Missionary Baptist Church where she served in many capacities, a charter member of Southern University Alumni Association, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority (Silver Star), Place aux Dames (training member), and the Morehouse Class Reunion Organization Committee.

      On March 23, 2021 in the early morning hours in the Morehouse General emergency room, Mildred Patricia Ann Lanier Dickerson stepped from mortality into immortality and joined her loved ones in “that city so bright and fair.”

     Missing her guidance, her smile, and her love are two grateful children: Rozalind Dickerson Cleaver (Michael) of Dallas, TX, and Walter Dickerson of Paris, France, and many other family members and friends.

"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Honor her for all that her hands and let her works bring her praise at the city gate."

                                                                                                                        Proverbs 31:30 - 31

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