A CHEMIST who worked part time as a church minister – holding weddings and funerals for many of his customers – has died aged 82.
Eric Dixon was known as the "man who dispensed faith" for his dual career choice.
His wife of 60 years, Rita, said her husband was a "kind, gentle man".
She said: "I didn't realise just how popular he was until he died. We have had so much sympathy, so many people have told me how much they liked him. His funeral was packed, people were standing. He was just full of love for everybody."
Born in 1931, Mr Dixon, of Mickleover, trained as an apprentice pharmacist at Housley Pharmacy in Spondon.
In 1953, he married Rita and, a couple of years later, the couple moved to Africa, where Mr Dixon had landed a job for the West Africa Drug Company.
Mrs Dixon said: "I have so many fond memories of Africa. Eric ran the main pharmacy, first in Ghana and then in Nigeria, but had to travel out to the villages from time to time, going along all these tiny bush roads."
While out in Africa, the couple had two children, Richard, 56, and Robert, 54.
Robert said he admired his father's work ethic: "He was quite a pioneer out in Africa and was one of the most important pharmacists in the areas where he worked."
The family returned to the UK in 1959 and Mr Dixon took up a position as a pharmacist, working, over the next few decades, at a series of Derby pharmacies, including Vernon Street and Ashbourne Road.
It was in 1982 that Mr Dixon was ordained as an Anglican minister, completing an Open University course at the University of Nottingham.
Robert said: "He felt he had this calling and wanted to study to be a reverend.
"It was something he had thought about and wanted to do and he juggled it well, incorporating it into his work life.
"He was associated with All Saints Church in Mackworth and would help out on Sundays or whenever he could. He would perform weddings and funerals.
"Customers used to come in and ask him to do their services. He would joke with them, ask them for a prior date for their funerals."
In September 2011, Mr Dixon, who also had four grandchildren, was diagnosed with prostate cancer and, in January this year, was taken into the Macmillan Unit at the Royal Derby Hospital.
Robert said: "He had his birthday in there and, though he was very weak, the amazing Macmillan nurses helped him and my mum celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary. It was fitting that he died on Easter Sunday – he said he wanted to live until then – and his final words were 'I am at peace'."
Mr Dixon's funeral was held at St John's Church in Mickleover, with a cremation afterwards at Markeaton Crematorium.
