VALERIE DIXON
Tim Stevens, Chairman and CEO of the Black Political Empowerment Project, recalled the day that he met Valerie Dixon. It was at an anti-violence event in the Hill District in July 2001, two weeks after Dixon’s son, Robby, was shot and killed.
Dixon’s pain, her hurt, her sadness was “converted into a mission,” Stevens told the New Pittsburgh Courier.
The next 23 years, Dixon was front and center in the fight against violence in Pittsburgh. Sometimes, the fight against violence in Pittsburgh seems like a never-ending fight. But Dixon didn’t care. It was her mission to be there for other mothers who may have lost their son to gun violence. It was her mission to make this city, this region, a better, safer place for all.
Valerie Dixon, surrounded by family, died at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital on Monday, June 3, from kidney disease. She was 63.
VALERIE DIXON WITH FORMER PITTSBURGH MAYOR BILL PEDUTO
“We hit it off right away,” Stevens recalled about meeting Dixon two weeks after the death of her son on June 25, 2001. “She became one of my very closest friends on the planet. I got to visit her frequently in the different hospitals and rehab centers that she was in. She always kept her sense of humor even in the midst of all the ongoing physical challenges to her body.”
Dixon could always be seen in the community, whether it was with B-PEP, the Greater Pittsburgh Coalition Against Violence, Moms of Murdered Children, and was the founder of the Prevent Another Crime Today organization.
VALERIE DIXON
“Pittsburgh has lost another community advocate with the passing of Valerie Dixon,” Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey said in a statement. “She worked tirelessly to combat violence in our neighborhoods, especially after losing her beloved son, Robert. Let’s offer our support and extend kindness to her family and friends as they grieve their loss. May her legacy of peace and understanding be a roadmap for how we all should continue to live.”
During a funeral service for Dixon on Tuesday, June 11, at Wesley Center AME Zion Church in the Hill, Stevens said the three primary speakers were her brother, Bill Dixon, Toya Jones from Center for Victims, and Lueana Coward, whom Valerie Dixon referred to her as her sister. Coward and Dixon understood what each other was going through, as Coward lost all three of her sons to gun violence.
At Center for Victims, on the South Side, Dixon served as a family and community support director. That’s where she worked with Jones for many years.
“We always laughed about something,” Stevens told the Courier. “I was impressed with how she always kept her spirits up. I don’t know if I would have been able to handle the constant illness and setbacks. But she was passionate about her work.”
Stevens added about Valerie Dixon: “She used her passion, her hurt, her grief as an inspirational tool to assist others and to share her magnificent empathy.”