Daniel Scott Dickey

Daniel Scott Dickey passed away July 16th, 2021 while surrounded by his loving wife, children, and grandchildren. He was born June 30, 1954 in Stillwater, Oklahoma to Warren and Lillian (Leftwich) Dickey.
Friends and family knew him best for his silly, off the cuff sense of humor. Daniel was a jack of all trades and was mechanically inclined; he was an artist, a poet, was very musical and had a beautiful baritone voice. He was a talented cook, a skill he passed on to his children. He loved the outdoors and impromptu road trips. Daniel enjoyed camping, fishing, and target shooting with guns and bow.
Daniel was spiritual, kind and empathetic. He was the kind of guy who always stopped if someone was broken down on the road, and would give a ride to strangers if they were walking in inclement weather. He was very generous and even though his own family didn’t have much, he would loan money to people who need a few more dollars to make it to their next paycheck.
Being the youngest of six children of a single mother, he wanted to help his family and started his work history young, taking on a shoe shine job in front of a barbers shop, sharing his income with his mother. He was still in high school when he started working part time for CREC. At first he was doing any odd job they needed done, but they soon found out about his artistic abilities. He was drafting for them before the age of computers when all of the maps of the county were hand drawn. For many years one of his wall sized maps of Payne County hung just inside CREC. He was also asked to design and draw a sign that was reproduced onto large wooden signs which were mounted all around the state at entrances of cities. The sign had a picture of a horse head and said, “Oklahoma is Horse Country.”
Daniel took art classes at Oklahoma State University, and also attended El Camino College in Torrance, California.
Daniel regretted that he was unable to serve his country. While he was in California, he tried to join the coast guard. They recruited him but he failed the physical when it was found that he had severe disc disease. A coast guard recruiter contacted him almost a year later, telling him they were doing a follow up because his test scores had been so high and wanting to know if he had ever had any physical symptoms, and sadly he had to tell them that he had.
Upon returning to Stillwater, he worked briefly in construction with family. He went on to manage convenience stores and later restaurant manager. While in food service, many of his employees were very young and it was their first job. Over the years, he was approached many times by past employees, now adults, who told him that he was the best manager they ever worked for and that he had taught them a lot about responsibility and work ethic.
Daniel Dickey is survived by his wife Mary (Leutner) Dickey, his children, Tiana Dickey, and son, Ryan Dickey (Michelle), both of Stillwater; his sisters Carole Finch (Henry) of Jenks, and Maria Kress (Michael) of Stillwater; Deanna Delk, and brother Warren Sonny Dickey of Sperry; his grandchildren Tristan Clark, Chelsea French, McKayla French, Kara Lee Cook, Kayana Jinks, and Katelynn Jinks; great grandchildren Deacon Denny and Azaryah Cook.
He is preceded in death by his parents and his three brothers; Robert Dickey, Jon Dickey, and James Dickey.
A memorial celebrating his life will be a 2:00 PM, Saturday, July 24th at the First Christian Church, 411 W Mathews Ave., Stillwater.