Don Dickerson, attorney, regent and River Campus advocate, dies

Cape Girardeau attorney and former president of the Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents Donald L. Dickerson, whose vision led to creation of the university's River Campus, died at his home early Thursday following a lengthy illness.

He was 89 years old and had been in hospice care since September, according to his family.

"He died peacefully and had a wonderful spirit right up to the end," his wife, Jo Anne, said.

"He practiced law more than 50 years, had an amazing life and accomplished so much, but the thing he was most proud of was his work with the Board of Regents and the River Campus," she said.

Born on Dec. 4, 1931, Dickerson came from a farming family in the Jackson area and graduated from Jackson High School in 1950. He enrolled at Southeast Missouri State Teachers College later that year and often hitchhiked from Jackson to the Cape Girardeau campus until he saved enough money to buy a used car.

Don Dickerson

Dickerson became the first member of his family to earn a college degree in 1954, after which he enlisted in the U.S. Army, training as a radio operator before being assigned to a base in Alaska where he was in charge of the post exchange, commonly known as the PX.

A talented guitarist, having been taught how to play by his mother, Dickerson's wife said he could have been a musician, but chose instead to enroll at the University of Missouri's law school. He paid his tuition through the GI Bill and graduated with his law degree in 1959.

One of Dickerson's law school classmates was Mel Carnahan, who would go on to become Missouri governor and would appoint Dickerson to the Southeast Board of Regents in 1993. He was president of the board from 1996 until his term ended in December 2004.

Plaintiffs and politics

Dickerson spent most of his legal career as a trial attorney on behalf of plaintiffs, but he was initially hired as an assistant prosecuting attorney in 1960 under Cape Girardeau County prosecutor Richard E. Snider.

Although he never held political office, Dickerson worked behind the scenes on behalf of the Democratic Party for most of his adult life. In 1962, he was named Cape Girardeau County party chairman and two years later he and Snider were among a half dozen county residents to be named "honorary colonels" by Gov.-elect Warren E. Hearnes, the others being Bill D. Burlison, Dr. H.C. Magill, William Frye and George Bader.

In 1968, Dickerson was named Southeast Missouri campaign manager for True Davis, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate.

By that time, he was a partner in the Cape Girardeau law firm of Jackson, Thomasson and Dickerson, a firm that eventually became Cook, Barkett, Ponder & Wolz.

Over the years, Dickerson was associated with several law practices in Cape Girardeau, including Dickerson, Rice, Spaeth, Heisserer & Summers (now known as Rice, Spaeth, Summers & Heisserer) and Dickerson, Hill & Lange.

Dickerson was the congressional district finance chairman for the reelection campaign of Missouri Sen. Stewart Symington in 1970 and two years later he became district campaign coordinator for Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern. It was during the campaign he and Jo Anne, a campaign volunteer, became friends and discovered they had a great deal in common. They were married in November 1973. Together they raised three children, his adopted daughter from a previous marriage and her two sons, also from a prior marriage.

'A consummate lawyer'

Former Cape Girardeau mayor and longtime attorney Al Spradling III remembered working with Dickerson early in his career.

"He was a co-counsel with me on the first case I ever tried before a jury," Spradling said. "I learned a lot from Don just from trying that case. He was a wonderful trial attorney, had excellent persuasion skills and it was fun to pick his brain on a lot of things."

Spradling, who also served as a regent, credited Dickerson with a lengthy list of accomplishments on behalf of the university in large part because of his political connections.

Dickerson, Spradling said, "was a consummate lawyer and a consummate politician, working behind the scenes to get a lot accomplished."

"Don was a very talented trial attorney, very methodical," commented Kevin Spaeth, who practiced with Dickerson from 1994 until 2003. "He prepared extremely well and he was very particular about dotting his I's and crossing his T's and worked very hard whether he was an adversary or on your side. You always knew Don was going to walk into court prepared."

Dickerson's dream

First Missouri State Bank executive vice president Jay Knudtson, who was Cape Girardeau's mayor from 2002 until 2010, says if it hadn't been for Dickerson, the university probably wouldn't have a performing arts center at the River Campus today.

"I'll never forget meeting Don Dickerson early in my term as mayor when he did his version of the Martin Luther King 'I have a dream' speech about the River Campus," said Knudtson, who admitted he was initially skeptical of the plan. "As mayor, I didn't have the vision, but it was singularly his passion, his dream, to turn that otherwise blighted area into the majestic River Campus that it is today. It was his leadership and his passion as Board of Regents president that truly brought it to fruition."

Dickerson, Knudtson said, "had everyone believing it could happen."

Today, Knudtson considers the River Campus to be "on the short list of crown jewels" accomplished during his two terms as Cape Girardeau's mayor.

"The university and the entire community owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to Don," he said.

During his years as a regent, Dickerson worked with four Southeast presidents -- Kayla Stroup, Bill Atchley, Dale Nitzschke and, most recently, Kenneth Dobbins.

"When you talk about Don's biggest accomplishments (as board president), it's hard to choose one, but the River Campus is the one I remember most," Dobbins said. "Don was a great proponent of the arts and had the connections with Gov. Carnahan to receive $5 million in tax credits to help fund the project. He turned it into a great asset not only for the university, but for the community."

Dobbins said Dickerson was also instrumental in helping guide the university through a challenging financial period in 2003 and was also president of the board when the university changed its athletic mascots from Indians and Otahkians to Redhawks.

"He not only gave great leadership to the university and the board, but he was a personal friend," Dobbins said.

The university presented Dickerson with an honorary doctor of laws degree during commencement exercises in May 2005, and in 2007 he received the Friend of the University Award from the Southeast Missouri University Foundation.

In a statement about Dickerson service to the university, Southeast's current president, Carlos Vargas, praised Dickerson for his River Campus vision, noting the River Campus commons was named in his honor in 2009.

"Today and for many years to come, Southeast students will thrive and succeed because of the contributions made by Mr. Dickerson," Vargas said. "We are grateful to Mr. Dickerson for his commitment, dedication, leadership and service to Southeast."

Asked about arrangements, Jo Anne Dickerson said "Don did not like funerals and he said he didn't want a funeral or visitation." However, she said a celebration of his life will take place sometime this summer.