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LGBTQ+ News

Jack Dixon 3.12.1939 – 6.10.2013

November 24, 2013

Jack Dixon passed away after a period of illness in The Royal Sussex County Hospital on Sunday, October 6, 2013.

Jack Dixon

Jack Dixon was born in Huddersfield out of wedlock and brought up in a local orphanage. During his early years a lady wanted to adopt him but she was considered too old by the authorities. Jack was always unhappy about that. During his later years Jack returned home to try and find out more about his family. Sadly, he was unsuccessful. The 1950s found him in the army in Cyprus where he was the only solider in his group to survive an explosion which affected his hearing for the rest of his life.

After discharge from the army he worked at Pinewood film studios both in catering and as a chauffeur. He often told the story about how he drove the Hollywood actress Bette Davis to the Ritz Hotel for afternoon tea and she complained because they served the jam in pyrex instead of a cut-glass dish.

Jack proved very good at catering and organising events. He became the manager of The Golden Galleon restaurant on the A259 near Cuckmere Haven where he trained many people in the skills of catering and serving the public.

Jack was a great socialiser and was associated with many organisations including GEMS (Gay Elderly Men’s Society) who he appeared with annually on top of the Mayor’s open top bus during Brighton Pride dressed in his pink suit. Nothing gave Jack more pleasure than to see all the young people cheering, which he said brought home to him how things had changed since he was a younger man. He also marched on the London Pride Parade, again something that gave him immense personal pleasure.

Through his involvement with CAFFMOS (Contacts and Friendship For Men Over Sixty), he attended monthly lunches in Brighton and their annual weekend away in Blackpool. He took great pleasure in attending the annual disco of TAGS (The Aran Gay Society) in Littlehampton and always caused a stir when he arrived in his pink suit.

During his final years, when his health was failing, Jack spent much of his time in the A-Bar where he would take lunch. He was a gentleman of the old school, always immaculately dressed, and the management of the A-Bar organised for him to be cremated in his favourite pink suit.

Jack was cremated on November 14 at the Woodvale Crematorium in Brighton.

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