Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Claude Dickerson

Claude Black Dickerson, known to all as "Buck", 85, of Prescott, died Tuesday, January 5, 2004, after a 20-year battle with cancer.

He was born on the family farm near Emmet on October 21, 1918. He was the sixth of nine children born to Edd M. and Annie Black Dickerson.

He worked the family farm and in the government CC camps during the Great Depression. He joined the Arkansas National Guard at the onset of World War II, serving for five years. He spent three years as a Military Policeman in Alaska. He was a member of First United Methodist Church of Prescott, a lifetime member of Prescott VFW Post #8671, a member of the American Legion and an Army Veteran of WWII.

Upon his return to Arkansas, he married Doris "Dot" Johnson of Spring Hill. Buck was still on active duty with the Army and the two of them moved to North Carolina. Travel was done mostly by train at that time. Upon missing their assigned train at one stop, Buck and Dot caught a ride on the cattle guard of the next engine. The engineer caught up with their missed train and told them to hop onto the caboose where they rode until the next stop.

Buck returned to Arkansas and to farming the family land shortly after the war. After the birth of their two children, Gay and Jim, farming proved to be too risky an occupation. Buck joined the Prescott Police Department in 1951. Though he would stray away from the force from time to time, Buck spent more than 30 years with the Prescott Police Department in one capacity or another. He once put entertainer Chuck Berry in jail for reckless driving after Berry spun his tires near Bessie Pearl's Dairy Queen. Most everyone raised in Prescott during the 50's, 60's or 70's has some sort of story involving them and "Mr. Buck". Some have said it was better to have him take them to jail for speeding than to call their fathers or worse, take them home. Others over the years have thanked him for not putting them in jail. For parts of four decades, Buck was a symbol of the long, not to mention hefty, arm of the law in Prescott.

He finally retired back home to the farm in 1986 where he raised a small herd of cattle and pursued his life-long hobby of dancing. During the last few years of his life, it was a rare occasion that kept him from making a dance at the Senior Citizen Centers in Prescott, Arkadelphia or Malvern.

He was preceded in death by his loving wife, Doris "Dot" Johnson Dickerson who died in 1998; by two brothers, Herbert and Ellis Dickerson; and by four sisters, Jewell Edwards, Ruby Allen, Lois Webb and Elsie Smith.

His survivors include: one son, Jim Dickerson and Diane Stovall of Prescott; two daughters, Eileen and Tod Kozevnikoff of Fairbanks, Alaska and Gay and Dennis Stevens of Bryant; two sisters, Irene Tolleson and Jo Parker both of West Memphis; grandchildren and their families include: Brian and Tami Dickerson, Colton and Hannah, of Prescott; Matt Dickerson and Angel Hawthorne and Mason of Hope; Yolanda and Bobby Dennis, Josh, Amber and Brooklyn of North Little Rock; Bryan Stevens of North Little Rock, Aaron Kozevnikoff and Aaron Jr. of Fairbanks, Alaska; and Kim Wiehl, Jessica, Henry, and Haley of Fairbanks, Alaska.

He is also survived by numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and dear friends who all have fond memories and wonderful stories that will live for generations as they are told at family gatherings and local coffee shops for years to come.

Funeral services were 10 a.m. Friday, January 9, 2004, at Brazzel/Cornish Funeral Home Chapel in Prescott with Rev. Tal Webb officiating. Burial followed in DeAnn Cemetery in Prescott. Arrangements by Brazzel/Cornish Funeral Home in Prescott.

Family received friends Thursday, January 8, 2004, from 6-8 p.m. at Brazzel/Cornish.