Celebration of Life
Worley Community Church-
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Email Details
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30203 S. 1st Street
Worley, ID
Irwin Dickinson
June 15, 1927 — October 15, 2017
Irwin Dickinson
Irwin Kenneth (Ken) Dickinson, husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather passed away in Coeur d’ Alene, Sunday, October 15, surrounded by family.
Born June 15, 1927, in Reubens, Idaho, Ken was the second son born to C. L. and Mary Dickinson. Early in Ken’s life his family moved their grocery business from Craigmont to Lewiston, where Ken grew up helping in the store. He attended schools in Lewiston, graduating from high school in 1945.
Ken instinctively understood anything mechanical or structural. That innate ability led to a job at a service station and later, as a diesel mechanic for Potlatch Forests, Inc. at Camp “T,” a logging camp near Headquarters, Idaho.
Ken married Agnes Cole from Clarkston, Washington, in 1948 and a daughter, Carol, was born to the couple in 1949. After Agnes passed away (1949), Ken's parents cared for Carol so Ken could work at the logging camp, returning home on weekends.
A few years later, after a weekend in Lewiston, Ken was asked to take a University of Idaho student to Camp “T” to begin her summer job in the Camp’s dining room. The student was Dianne Richards, and that chance meeting led to Ken and Dianne’s marriage on June 13, 1954. The newlyweds moved to Moscow where Ken enrolled in engineering courses while Dianne completed her education degree. Returning to Lewiston, Ken was a mechanic for Industrial Parts, and later worked for Potlatch’s Lewiston mill. The couple added two sons to the family, James in 1955 and Richard in 1958.
Changing careers, Ken earned his sales and broker’s licenses and joined his parents’ real estate business. Missing being outdoors, his structural aptitude led him to begin a construction business. For the following fifty years Ken built homes, apartments, warehouses and office buildings in Lewiston, Clarkston and Pendleton, as well vacation homes overlooking Coeur d’Alene and Pend Oreille Lakes.
In 1998 Ken and Dianne retired to their cabin on Lake Coeur d’ Alene and with great help from Joe and George Bloomsburg, Ken replaced the cabin with a new home on the same footprint. Though “retired,” Ken continued to work, helping friends build homes and assisting with the construction of a parsonage in Worley.
Ken and Dianne enjoyed traveling, joining friends on trips to Branson, Missouri, and the Baja Peninsula. They spent winters at Moabi Regional Park near Lake Havasu, Nevada, with close “snowbird” friends from Omak and Okanagan, Washington.
In 2005 Ken was diagnosed with prostate cancer, which went into remission with the help of talented Coeur d’Alene and Spokane medical professionals. A few years later, he (and his family) started noticing signs of dementia which, in conjunction with Parkinson’s disease, slowly overtook Ken’s memory and eventually his life.
Ken’s lifelong Christian faith was strong. He was active in both of Lewiston’s Methodist Churches and, after retirement, he attended the Worley Community Church. His beliefs were visible in his love for Dianne and his family, as well as in his actions. We miss him greatly, but we know the strength he modeled will carry us through our loss.
Ken was predeceased by his parents and older brother Don. He is survived by Dianne, his wife of 64 years, his daughter Carol Green (Steve) of Coeur d’Alene, sons James (Tammy) of Boise and Richard (Carri) of Pinehurst, six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
The family thanks Dr. Robert Hagan, Hospice of North Idaho and the caring owners and staff at Renaissance Assisted Living.
You are invited to a celebration of Ken’s life at the Worley Community Church, 30203 S. 1st Street, Worley, Idaho, on November 18, 2017, at 2 p.m.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Irwin Dickinson, please visit our flower store.
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