[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 114 (Monday, July 21, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4656-S4657]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 REMEMBERING CHARLEY GREENE DIXON, JR.

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I am saddened to report to my Senate 
colleagues the passing of a fellow Kentuckian, Mr. Charley Greene 
Dixon, Jr., who lost his battle with cancer on June 23 of this year. 
Charley was a consummate public servant who spent his life working to 
better his community. Knox County, and the entirety of the Commonwealth 
of Kentucky, is poorer for his loss.
  The overriding ambition in Charley's life was to help others. His 
wife Marcia Dixon said, ``He believed that if he could make one life 
better he was a success.'' This is a bar for success that Charley 
cleared time and time again.
  Born in Barbourville on November 19, 1964, Charley lived in Kentucky 
his whole life, mostly in his hometown in Knox County. He attended 
Union College in Barbourville and earned his juris doctorate from 
Northern Kentucky's Salmon P. Chase College of Law.
  Charley started his career working as the Barbourville city attorney, 
later becoming the Knox County school board and Barbourville city 
school board attorney.
  His most recent position was of Knox County attorney, one that he had 
held since 2003. In that capacity he played a leading role in creating 
juvenile, family and adult drug courts in Knox County. Through these 
courts, Charley helped countless individuals reclaim their lives from 
the clutches of drug addiction.
  Outside of his official duties, Charley continued to work tirelessly 
to better Knox County. He chaired the Knox County UNITE Coalition an 
organization that combated illicit drug use through education, law 
enforcement, and rehabilitation. As chairman he spearheaded events, 
such as ``Hooked on Fishing Not on Drugs,'' where kids and their 
families could enjoy themselves in a drug-free environment.
  For his selfless work in the community, Charley was named the 2013 
Man of the Year by the Knox County Chamber of Commerce a fitting award 
for a man who helped so many.
  Charley is survived by his wife Marcia, his daughter Callie Ann, and 
his son Charleston Arthur. Knox County was undoubtedly bettered by his 
life's work, and he will be sorely missed by all who loved and knew 
him.
  I ask that my U.S. Senate colleagues join me in honoring the life of 
Charley Greene Dixon, Jr.
  The Mountain Advocate recently published an article chronicling 
Dixon's life. I ask unanimous consent that the full article be printed 
in the Record.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record as follows:

              [From the Mountain Advocate, June 26, 2014]

               ``Hometown Hero'' Loses Battle With Cancer

                          (By Melissa Newman)

       John Ray Gray sat quietly in the waiting area at the Knox 
     County Attorney's Office Monday morning. He wasn't there 
     because he needed help--at least not this time.

[[Page S4657]]

       A confessed recovered drug addict, Gray, now 27, first met 
     former Knox County Attorney Charley Greene Dixon six years 
     ago in drug court.
       Gray said without Dixon and the drug court program, he'd 
     ``probably be dead.''
       ``He was good to me,'' Gray's voice quivered as he spoke. 
     ``He went beyond his job to help me.''
       Gray came to ``check on'' staff members and offer tight 
     hugs, his tears contagious and shared among the group. His 
     story is only one of the many dozen that include some 
     selfless act or shattered belief that work should end at 5 
     p.m. Dixon, as most have said, was different.
       Dixon, who helped hundreds, like Gray, win battles against 
     drugs, poverty, and domestic violence, lost his own battle to 
     colon cancer early Monday morning.
       The former county attorney first learned he was ill while 
     on vacation in May 2013. Not long after, on June 30, he 
     resigned his position to then assistant county attorney 
     Gilbert Holland, to focus on getting better. The community he 
     had served so valiantly came together in prayer vigils around 
     the courthouse square, hoping for a miracle.
       ``The loss will be felt by this community for a long 
     time,'' Holland said. ``Charley dedicated his life to 
     bettering the lives of the people of Knox County. His efforts 
     were never contained by the traditional role of his office. 
     He invented ways to reach out to the community.''
       Along with Dixon's successful drug court program that has 
     graduated thousands, he was well-known for a long list of 
     community-minded projects--many of which he initiated. 
     Reaching youth was at the forefront of his vision for a 
     successful Knox County--Hooked on Fishing Not on Drugs, 
     Faith-Based Basketball Cheerleading, Anti-Drug Abuse Poster 
     Contest, a Car/Bike Show for Youth, and a Prevention Camp.
       A new youth-related program will take place next fall one 
     of the last requests Dixon made of long-time friend and 
     colleague Claudia Greenwood, who worked with Dixon on grants 
     and public relations.
       ``He's already told me that next year he would like for us 
     to do a pumpkin patch event and have a pumpkin decorating 
     contest and display the pumpkins in the banks,'' Greenwood 
     said. ``He was always so creative, coming up with things to 
     do with the kids and the community,'' Greenwood said. ``He 
     thought of that while he was sick and wanted to make sure he 
     told us about it.''
       Finding time to grieve in a busy office hasn't been easy 
     for Dixon's staff. The phone calls keep coming--clients and 
     the public are priority as usual. Among the foot traffic, 
     phone calls, and full email boxes, ``it hits'' them that 
     Dixon's guidance is gone. And though the quiet moments are 
     few, that's when the staff members feel the waves of emotion 
     and loss wash over them.
       ``Yesterday, when the media wanted statements, it hit me 
     hard,'' Greenwood said. ``My first thought was that I needed 
     to ask Charley what to say.''
       Dixon, expected to do great things for his community, 
     succeeded in filling the large shoes of his grandfather John 
     Dixon who served as Knox County attorney for several decades. 
     When elected, the younger Dixon brought his grandfather's 
     legacy and one of his employees into office with him.
       ``I've worked for Charley this October will be 19 years,'' 
     Sherry Vaughn said. ``I worked for his grandfather five and a 
     half years before that until he passed away. I went to school 
     with Charley; he's been just like a brother to me.''
       ``He loved kids,'' Vaughn said. ``He did everything he 
     could for the children in Knox County. His own children were 
     his whole world. Words can't describe how we feel about the 
     situation. He has struggled for a year and now he's a lot 
     better off. He's up there now looking down at us.''
       Dixon's wife, Marcia, like her husband, is active in 
     community service. Often, the couple worked together and at 
     times involved the entire family--the children, Callie Ann 
     and Charleston Arthur, included. The late Dixon's wife knows 
     her community, their hometown, is better off for having had 
     her husband as a leader.
       ``Charley was very dedicated not only to our family but to 
     our Knox County community as well,'' Marcia Dixon said. ``His 
     goal was to help others, and he believed that if he could 
     make one life better he was a success. I feel blessed to have 
     shared many joyful years with him and want everyone to be 
     able to say as an old Hebrew proverb says, ``Say not in 
     grief: He is no more,' but live in thankfulness that he 
     was.''
       Knox County's Chamber of Commerce members named Dixon Knox 
     County's Man of the Year last fall and tagged him a 
     ``hometown hero.''
       Dixon's introduction as Man of the Year heralded a long 
     list of community-minded projects that he participated in, 
     implemented, or, in some cases, created.
       Dixon served as the chair of the Knox County UNITE 
     (Unlawful Narcotics Investigation, Treatment, and Education) 
     Coalition since May 2005. The former county attorney was also 
     instrumental in securing grant funding through the Foundation 
     for a Healthy Kentucky; a grant from PRIDE; a Coal Severance 
     Grant; a Fatherhood Grant and a EUDL Grant to fund programs 
     for young people that promoted prevention for underage 
     drinking.
       Dixon made sure his office staff actively participated in 
     Back to School Expos, PRIDE Pick-Up, Relay for Life, the 
     Child Identification Program, the Knox County Reading 
     Celebration, the local August Arts Adventure, and the annual 
     Redbud festival.
       Dixon was an active military advocate--photos of local 
     service men and women lined the hallways leading to his 
     office. He called it ``Faces of Freedom.''
       Funeral services for Dixon are at Barbourville First 
     Baptist Church, Friday, June 27 at 2 p.m. Burial will follow 
     in the Barbourville Cemetery.
       Visitation is at Barbourville First Baptist Church, 
     Thursday from 5 to 9 p.m. and Friday after 10 a.m. until the 
     funeral hour at 2 p.m. Hopper Funeral Home is in charge of 
     arrangements.
       Dixon's family requests contributions be made to the Knox 
     County Chapter of the American Cancer Society in loving 
     memory of Charley Greene Dixon, Jr.

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