David Dickey

TO VIEW THIS FUNERAL LIVE PLEASE CLICK THE LINK: https://youtube.com/live/U2ADcE65xHM 

On April 6, 2024, David Arnold Dickey returned home to his father, mother, and favorite dog Tasha. He was surrounded by his wife and children and passed away peacefully after a long battle with cancer. 

Dave was born April 13, 1946 in Logan, Utah, to Arnold and Lucinda (Anderson) Dickey, and moved to Millville, Utah when he was four years old. David’s childhood was spent exploring the mountains with his family – hiking, biking, and camping. In high school, he was the student body president and a state-champion wrestler. He loved people and had six hundred best friends in every zip code.

David served a mission for his church in the Central States. He married the love of his life—Lynette Johnson (Dickey)—on April 25, 1969 and then completed dual degrees at Utah State University in Aerospace Technology and Marketing, with a minor in Manufacturing Engineering.

Dave served in the United States Air Force as a pilot during the Vietnam war. During this time, he and Lynette lived in Valdosta, Georgia, Sacramento, California, and Rome, New York. They welcomed seven children and raised them by teaching them to ski, hike, bike, camp, and serve their neighbors. He built a magnificent play hut that was the neighborhood hub for many years, and a large sail trike that could fit seven kids and at least three dogs. He regularly slept out on the trampoline with his kids, taught them about the stars, and told stories where he inevitably saved his kidnapped children from the terrible fate of having to do chores all day for a “mean man.” He always made pancakes and eggs for the kids and grandchildren. Dave was objectively the greatest father and grandfather in the universe, and his entire adult life was spent making sure their lives were full of love and adventures.

When his daughters were teenagers, Dave was frequently invited to lead the Young Women’s Girls’ Camp hike. His mileage estimates were extremely dodgy, and most of his “five-mile” hikes were anywhere from eight to twenty miles. Family hikes always included promises of, “the peak is just around the next corner,” “just two more blocks,” and “a mile left… as the crow flies.” Nearly everybody from Millville has experienced an infamous Dave Dickey hike. 

David was a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He participated in nine different bishoprics and six different stake presidencies in various capacities. More importantly, he had a deep and abiding testimony of Jesus Christ and exhibited Christlike love from sunrise to sunset. He was warm and welcoming, and made six new friends every time he left the house—on hiking trails, in grocery-store lines, at gas stations, and at campsites.

He loved wildflowers, airplanes, and the constellations in the sky.

Dave had a penchant for eating unusual combinations of foods. Some classics included pop tarts with peanut butter and spam, ham-and-cheese sandwiched between chocolate-chip cookies, and ice cream with pickles and mustard. He added extra salt and sugar to everything, and was banned from giving the grandchildren his “power juice,” which had 84 times the USDA-recommended sugar.

We have joked many times that Dave was seemingly born with nine lives. He survived a ruptured spleen, a homemade pole-vaulting accident, two near-miss airplane crashes, a serious hang-gliding accident, colon cancer, and three heart attacks. We half expect him to walk through the door in two weeks and tell us he managed to survive getting buried. 

Even after Dave had undergone major cancer surgeries and multiple heart attacks, he refused to be left behind and would surprise us by showing up for mountain bike rides, ten-mile hikes, and backpacking trips during thunderstorms. He had the world’s most advanced case of FOMO.

Dave was preceded in death by his parents, Arnold and Lucinda Dickey. He is survived by his beloved wife Lynette; seven practically perfect children: Darin (Kimberly) Dickey, Michael (Jill) Dickey, Trevin Dickey, Laura Dickey (Tim Hanley), Cami (Peter) Jones, Karen (Zack) Bergeson, and Lance (Danielle) Dickey; nineteen greatly loved grandchildren; two darling great grandchildren; eight wonderful siblings; and seventeen hundred best friends he made at the post office and hardware store.

We are beyond grateful for your continuous love, support, and help during the last few years. Dave loved you so much--all of you. We know he is on the other side finding the best trails for us to explore when we get there and telling everybody how to identify sego lilies.

Viewings will be held Sunday, April 14th from 6:00 to 8:00 PM and Monday, April 15 from 9:30 until 10:30 AM. Funeral services will be held Monday, April 15 at 11:00 AM. The viewings and the funeral will be held at the Providence South Stake Center (360 E 450 N Millville, UT 84326). We would love to see you! Interment will be through Allen-Hall Mortuaries. A Zoom option will be available for those who cannot make it in person–we will post a link as the date approaches.

In Dave’s honor, we invite you to go on a hike, do something kind for a neighbor, or eat something weird.