Obituary of Alyne Dixon

Mildred Alyne Dixon, 87, passed away peacefully in her sleep on September 9, 2024. She was preceded in death by the man who had the good fortune to be her husband for 51 years, Von Larry Dixon Jr. She is survived by two children, her favorite Larry Michael Dixon of Whittier and her barely tolerable daughter, Susan Dixon Leading Fox of Bryson City. Alyne began a lifelong career of nurturing all creatures great and small with her high school job at the original Nabers Drive-In Restaurant in Bryson City, serving hamburgers and hot dogs to the locals. The oh-so-clever Larry Dixon, already smitten with Alyne, took a job at the gas station next door to Nabers, thus beginning his diabolical campaign to win her love. It seemed hopeless until he realized Alyne had to run past the drunks on the Governor’s Island bridge every night on her way home from work. He offered his services as escort and bodyguard and Alyne went with the lesser of two evils. His persistence paid off, however, and he charmed his way into her family and her heart. Once married, Alyne worked at the Vasser plant in Cherokee while Larry was off enjoying himself on the road driving a semi-trailer truck. When she got tired of waiting for him to come home and take her places, she taught herself to drive by running the car up and down the driveway. Then not only could she drive herself to work, she could also load the kids in the car and take them on adventures to places close to home and free: creeks, rivers, hatcheries, and picnics. In a weak moment, Alyne decided she didn’t have enough to do and went back to school to study for a nursing degree. Many a night she sat at the dining table in tears because neither she nor her ignorant daughter understood the first thing about chemistry, physics, or algebra. Yet somehow she earned her LPN and went to work as a nurse, first at Swain County Hospital, then at Cherokee Indian Hospital. If Michael had of been home, instead of off vacationing at Grand Forks Air Force Base in ND, things would have gone much smoother. He was always the smart one. Alyne later went back to school yet again for an RN degree, which led to her work in the Emergency Room at Cherokee Hospital, where she would work for the rest of her career. She thoroughly enjoyed her work in the ER because she was a glutton for punishment and because at least it was never boring. The only thing that could lure her away from that beautiful chaos and into retirement was her love for Larry, whom she nursed until he passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2008. Though she had retired from nursing, Alyne never retired from nurturing. She decided to start her own personal Meals on Wheels program and feed the world or at least her part of it. At first it was only ER employees and EMTs who got to enjoy her casseroles, desserts, and other victuals. But then, like the blob, her ministry expanded slowly throughout Swain County. The men at Ace Hardware looked underfed. Alyne fed them. The fire fighters looked like they hadn’t had a good meal in a month of Sundays. Alyne fed them. The folks at the County Administration Building looked malnourished. Alyne fed them. She fed everybody: her Victory Church family, her pastor’s family, her neighbors, employees of Buttermilk Farms and other businesses in town, even the people at Crisp Funeral Home (which did not earn her a discount, by the way). In the course of feeding the people, Alyne noticed there were also many hungry animals and undertook to feeding them, too. She could sniff out the homeless and hungry like a Plott hound, finding and feeding them on roadsides, under sheds, in the fields and woods. She carried news of her critters far and wide, telling of their births, deaths, health, and adoptions just like they were family. Her dedication to this mission often got her in hot water as Alyne didn’t hold truck with anyone useless and mean to animals, a category which included those who cussed and threatened her as she made her rounds. Undeterred, she continued her mission to feed others until she could no longer drive. While many folks didn't know Alyne name, they did know her as "that lady who brings food". And that's a pretty good remembrance. She will be missed for not only that, but her biting wit, her sarcasm and her humorous personality. While Michael got the brains, Susan at least got her sarcasm. In lieu of flowers, go feed some strays!! Make a donation to PAWS or your local shelter. Be intolerable to people who are mean to animals.