Floyd Wayland Dickson

Floyd Wayland Dickson of Heber Springs died Monday. He was 97. Mr. Dickson was born July 25, 1917, in Heber Springs, where he grew up. He was the son Otis Craven Dickson and Jeanette Whitaker Dickson. He worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps after graduating from Heber Springs High School in 1935 and later attended Arkansas State Teachers College in Conway. He began working for the Cleburne County Bank in 1937 and married Thelma Frances Hall in 1938. He started work as a bank examiner for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in 1943. Mr. Dickson was inducted into the Navy in March 1944 and was discharged in 1946, when he returned to the FDIC. He examined banks in Tennessee, Arkansas and Missouri before retiring from the FDIC in 1983 as head of the Kansas City office after 40 years of service. He returned to Heber Springs in 1985 with his wife, Frances, who died in 2006. He was a member of the Heber Springs United Methodist Church and the Friendly Sunday School Class. He was a long-time member of the Heber Springs Rotary Club and the National Association of Retired Federal Employees. He is survived by three sons, Ed Dickson and wife Fran of Middleburg, Fla., John Dickson and wife Anne of Marietta, Ga., and Thomas Victor Dickson of Heber Springs, Ark.; four grandchildren, Diane Dickson Shepard and husband David of Green Cove Springs, Fla., David Dickson and wife Mindy of Orange Park, Fla., Chris Dickson and wife Kristee of Franklin, Tenn. and Tiffany Dickson Swartz and husband Taylor of Marietta, GA; eight great-grandchildren; a sister, Ruth Holland of Heber Springs, Fla.; and numerous nieces and nephews. Visitation will be at 10 a.m. and funeral at 11 a.m. Thursday at Heber Springs First United Methodist Church with burial at Heber Springs Cemetery. Memorials may be made to the Heber Springs First United Methodist Church or Arkansas Hospice. Arrangements are by Olmstead Funeral Home. www.olmstead.cc.