Royce Stanislaus Dickson was born in Sea Lake in north-west Victoria on September 7, 1936 to Bridget Ellen and Roy Dickson.
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One of six children, Mr Dickson grew up a typical country boy enjoying many adventures with his siblings, while also encountering the hardships that were faced by many farming families at the time.
Sport was always a big part of Mr Dickson’s life and he excelled in athletics, tennis and above all football.
At 16, he enjoyed the opportunity to star in a senior football grand final for Red Cliffs and with two brothers playing in the VFL for Hawthorn and Footscray it wasn’t long before he was drafted to Geelong at 17 years old.
With an interest in a career as a wool classer, Mr Dickson undertook work experience as a wool blanket manufacturer in Geelong as part of the Gordon Institute of Technology course.
It was here that Mr Dickson was involved in a terrible accident, resulting in the loss of his left arm.
Fearing the worst, Mr Dickson’s parents caught the train from Mildura to Geelong with the news that Mr Dickson was at one stage given the last rites.
The traumatic experience led Mr Dickson to forge a new path in his life, and during a long recovery period he decided to become a teacher.
Determined to take on this new challenge, Mr Dickson had to learn how to write with his right hand.
A failed attempt to enrol because of his poor writing would see him spending days perfecting his skills, including covering the walls of his bedroom when out of paper.
Overcoming the obstacle with flying colours, Mr Dickson was accepted and graduated from Teachers College in Bendigo.
His first appointment was at Tumbalup East Primary School, near Mansfield in the Tolmie Ranges.
Students were always quite inquisitive when it came to Mr Dickson’s missing arm and he would often joke with the new children, saying he lost it in a raffle.
It was not long before Mr Dickson was kicking the footy with the kids, bowling them out with his spinners and above all showing what a great and enthusiastic teacher he was.
Teaching seemed to be a career made just for him, he loved his job and engaging with the students.
Wondering into a car dealership in Benalla, Mr Dickson caught the eye of a young, beautiful girl named Maureen Joan Joyce.
The pair’s romance blossomed at a local dance and this was the beginning of over 60 years of love and life together.
The couple married in Benalla with Mr Dickson aged 22 and Maureen aged 17.
The life of the young couple on a single wage would expand into country Victoria as the job determined including stints in Tumbalup, Burnside, Won Wonda North, Warperella, Balmoral and Kyabram.
The couple had four children —Russell, Dale, Chris and Louise.
Mr Dickson’s tireless work ethic would eventually lead to a promotion to principal, and the family moved to Melbourne for Mr Dickson’s job at Westall Primary School.
A couple of years in Melbourne was enough for Mr and Mrs Dickson and they moved to Shepparton.
Mr Dickson would go on to become principal at a number of schools in the area.
No matter where the family would travel, Mr and Mrs Dickson would always become an integral part of the community, particularly through a love of sport.
Mr Dickson even won the the Horsham and District League Best and Fairest Award, playing football with one arm in which he would jokingly let others know his handball stats were dismal.
Mr and Mrs Dickson also enjoyed competitive tennis and golf in their later years.
At the age of 55, Mr Dickson retired from the Department of Education and he discovered a new passion for landcare and the environment.
This sparked the formation of the Shepparton and Mooroopna Urban Landcare Group which involved the planning, organising and running of an employment program for young people in environmental work known as GV Reep.
Mr Dickson loved spending time on holidays with his family and friends, teaching his children to fish, camp, swim and play on the beach.
He loved all beach activities including body surfing and beach cricket.
The Dickson family spent 30 years at their Dunlop St home in Shepparton where Mr Dickson created his beloved veggie patch.
Known as the second love of his life outside his family, the veggie garden was Mr Dickson’s pride and joy and he would often be seen loading poo and straw into his trailer at the saleyards to take home for the garden.
In his later years, Mr Dickson’s grandchildren became his greatest passion, proud of their everything they achieved and excited for their futures.
He was a beloved Pop to nine grandchildren and will be dearly missed by his family.