Tag Archives: Matthew

Family: Graduation, 2 Certificates, and a Funeral

Jessica Dickinson Goodman MSFS Georgetown graduation with family, May 2026
Jessica Dickinson Goodman MSFS Georgetown graduation with family, May 2026

I have not been keeping up on events on KatysBlog so this post will cover some ground. John and Paul and I recently returned from a week in Virginia for Jessica‘s first graduation from Georgetown University, with a Master of Science – Foreign Service (MSFS graduate degree). She finishes her second Master’s in December. Jessica is also newly a Mom our granddaughter Joanne who is thriving with her big brother 3-year-old Alex and Dad, Matthew. We are all very proud of Jessica (and having fun with our beloved grandbabies)!

Jessica John Katy Paul Georgetown MSFS graduation
Jessica, John, Katy, & Paul at Georgetown MSFS graduation

My father, Wade Dickinson, and his brother Wayne were business and innovation partners for fifty years, during which time they were granted more than fifty U.S. patents and taught entrepreneurship for 16 years at U.C. Berkeley Engineering. My father passed in 2011 and my Uncle Wayne passed late last year. Wayne’s memorial service was last weekend in San Rafael, California. It was a touching opportunity to tell stories and reconnect with my brother Mark and cousins Eric and Leslie Dickinson.

Mark, Katy, Leslie, Eric Dickinson, Wayne Dickinson Memorial Service, 23 May 2026
Mark, Katy, Leslie, Eric Dickinson, Wayne Dickinson Memorial Service, 23 May 2026
Wayne Dickinson Memorial Service, 1935-2025
Wayne Dickinson Memorial Service, 1935-2025

I posted recently about finishing the Graduate Theological Union‘s Certificate in Islamic Studies. I also just completed the Clinton Global Initiative’s Empowering Faith Leaders Program, hosted at the GTU. It was an interesting class in how substance addiction works in individual lives and the community. I now have a TechWomen certificate signed by Secretary Hillary Clinton and this new certificate signed by President Bill Clinton. It will be strange not to be taking grad school classes for a while!

Clinton Global Initiative, Faith Leaders certificate, 5 May 2026
Clinton Global Initiative, Faith Leaders certificate, 5 May 2026
Clinton Global Initiative, Faith Leaders cohort, 5 May 2026
Clinton Global Initiative, Faith Leaders cohort, 5 May 2026
Islamic Studies Books, May 2026
Islamic Studies Books, May 2026

Images Copyright 2026 by Katy Dickinson, If you want to receive Katysblog posted by email, please sign up using the Sign Me Up! field (upper right on Katysbloghome page).


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It’s Doctor

I was graduated with my Doctor of Ministry degree from the Graduate Theological Union‘s Berkeley School of Theology on 17 May 2025 – Hooray! I was surprised and honored at the graduation to be awarded BST’s Keith A. Russell Award for Prophetic Leadership in Community Ministry. My husband John, brothers Mark and Peter my Sister-in-Law Julie, daughter Jessica, Son-in-Law Matthew, grandson Alex, Son Paul, and friends Laura and Barbara were able to join the celebrations. It was a delight to have a cheering team. We graduates enjoyed taking pictures with our advisors and each other (especially the BST Student Council for which I have been the Vice Moderator for the last two years). I am continuing to take classes with GTU’s Center for Islamic Studies.

Images (c) Copyright 2025 by Katy Dickinson. If you want to receive Katysblog posted by email, please sign up using the Sign Me Up! field (upper right on Katysblog home page).

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Busy End of Year

Katy Dickinson, Lee Satterfield, TechWomen 10 Year Honor, 20 October 2022
Katy Dickinson, Lee Satterfield, TechWomen 10 Year Honor, 20 October 2022

As 2022 is ending, I have been reflecting on how busy these last few months have been. In October, I mentored the remarkable and inspiring TechWomen Team Tunisia, and was one of the 21 mentors honored by the U.S. State Department – Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs for ten years’ service to the TechWomen program. (I was the TechWomen Process Architect 2010-2011, and have been a mentor each year since.) Also that month, my husband John Plocher said a fond goodbye to Apple, and started a new job at Ford Greenfield Labs.

Katy Dickinson, Tunisia TechWomen, 16 October 2022
Katy Dickinson, Tunisia TechWomen, 16 October 2022
John Plocher with Ford Mach-E
John Plocher with Ford Mach-E

In November, John and I became grandparents with the birth of baby Alex to our daughter, Jessica Dickinson Goodman, and son-in-law, Matthew Holmes.

Jessica, Matthew, Baby Alex, 19 November 2022
Jessica, Matthew, Baby Alex, 19 November 2022

I helped our son Paul D. Goodman manage two successful craft sales in December 2022. Yesterday, I turned in the final paper for the Fall term of my Berkeley School of TechnologyDoctor of Ministry program. Also yesterday, as part of the Saint Joan’s Chapel and Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy team, I gave holy communion to 92 Elmwood jail inmates. Our team gave communion to 198 prisoners in three visits, starting on Christmas Day. The guys inside were happy to sing and dance with us to the tune of “Feliz Navidad.”

Looking forward to my next adventure!

Paul D. Goodman, 17 Dec 2022
Paul D. Goodman, 17 Dec 2022

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Filed under Chaplain, Church, Home & Family, Mentoring & Other Business, News & Reviews

2 Summer Trips

John Plocher, Katy Dickinson, Loon Lake, Wisconsin June 2022
John Plocher, Katy Dickinson, Loon Lake, Wisconsin June 2022

Our family went on two short trips this summer. John and visited the Plocher family at Loon Lake, Wisconsin, in June. At the end of August, John and I and our kids took a road trip through Northern-Northern California, including a ride on the Skunk Train from Willets. John and Paul and I were in one car and Jessica and Matthew were in another.

Loon Lake, Wisconsin

Plocher family, Loon Lake, Wisconsin June 2022
Plocher family, Loon Lake, Wisconsin June 2022

California Road Trip

Dickinson family, Willits, California, August 2022
Dickinson family, Willits, California, August 2022

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Graduations

GTU Commencement 7 May 2022
GTU Commencement 7 May 2022

Spring is graduation season and this year, I joyfully walked the stage in-person for my Graduate Theological Union – Master’sTheology degree, as well as graduating three of my own student-mentees from the University of the South – School of Theology – Education for Ministry (EfM) extension program.

My GTU – MA and Master’s hood were officially presented online last year* but GTU offered the 2020 and 2021 pandemic-years graduates an opportunity to walk in-person this year. I was hooded by Associate Dean of Students, Dr. Wendy Arce in a ceremony at the First Congregational Church of Berkeley. I was also awarded the Interreligious Chaplaincy Certificate, as only the second person to complete the new GTU – ICP program. Part of ICP is completing a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE), which for me meant working part-time as a Chaplain Intern for five months at Stanford Hospital during a pandemic surge. Several of us from Stanford Hospital – Spiritual Care Services graduated from GTU together this year. I was happy that my family which lovingly supported me during my long educational journey was present for my graduation.

Co-Mentor Karen LeBlanc, with whom I have led EfM seminars together for over twelve years, celebrated with me the graduations of Joel Martinez (graduated 2020, diploma presented 2022) and Beth Hopf at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church (Saratoga, CA), and Mark LeBlanc (Karen’s husband) at St. Jude’s Episcopal Church (Cupertino, CA). Joel, Beth, and Mark faithfully completed four years of EfM study and theological reflection on the Bible, church history, theology, and ethics.

*Read my thesis here: “Range of Chaplain Engagement with Prisoners”

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Boruca in the Rain Forest

Jaguar and hummingbird rain forest carvings, Boruca, Costa Rica, August 2021

In August 2021, John Plocher, Paul D. Goodman and I enjoyed a lovely vacation at Cielo Lodge in GolfitoCosta Rica during which we were delighted to visit the indigenous artisans of Boruca in their mountain village. We brought home two carvings to celebrate the 10th wedding anniversary of our daughter and son-in-law, Jessica Dickinson Goodman and Matthew Holmes. In a prior blog, I wrote about the Boruca carvings in balsa wood of nature, particularly jaguars (symbolizing male power and protection of the tribe) and butterflies (symbolizing female power and beauty). The symbolism of a butterfly and a jaguar to celebrate a wedding anniversary seemed right.

This is to consider another aspect of these carvings, the faces in the rainforest. In both the butterfly carving by Gabriel Leira (above) and the one by Markos Boruca (below), you can see a brown face with yellow, green, blue, white, and other colored lines highlighting the features. Our indigenous guide told us that these faces represent the Boruca people who are also part of the forest.

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20th Wedding Anniversary on 4 July


John and I are looking forward to our 20th wedding anniversary this weekend. Thinking back on some of our adventures and looking forward to many more. It is fun to be married to your best friend!

2020 virtual family dinner
2020 Mother’s Day
2018 family vacation
2018 Paul SJSU graduation
2018 St Andrew’s
2017 Katy Dickinson and John Plocher with UP1983 engine, Western Pacific Railroad Historical Convention, May 20172017 Reno
2016 Ashland
2016 Ashland
2016 Jessica Matthew John Paul Dunsmuir CA2016 Dunsmuir
2016 John Katy Klamath River CA2016 Klamath River
2015 Amtrak trip
2015 St Andrew’s
2014 John and Katy Lalibela, Ethiopia2014 Lalibela Ethiopia
2012 St Andrew’s
2012 Katy John Natural Bridges CA2012 Natural Bridges
2012 Jessica CMU graduation
2011 Jessica + Matthew
2011 Jessica Matthew wedding2011 Jessica + Matthew
2010 Lair Oski the bear, family camp2010 Lair of the Golden Bear camp
2010 Lair Oski the bear, family campLair of the Golden Bear camp 2010
2010 Teatro Zinzanni
2010 Teatro Zinzanni
2010 Teatro Zinzanni
2010 Aswan Egypt Katy John2010 Egypt
2010 Paul John Cairo Egypt2010 Cairo, Egypt
2008 John flying to Baja Mexico2008 Flying to Baja Mexico
2008 Katy flying to Baja Mexico2008 Baja
2007 Katy India2007 India
2007 John India2007 India
2007 Willow Glen Resident 25 May WP668 story2007 WP668 Caboose move
2007 Willow Glen Resident 25 May WP668 story2007 WP668 move
2006 John Dead Sea Israel2006 Dead Sea, Israel
2006 John Dead Sea Israel2006 Dead Sea, Israel
2006 John St Petersburg Russia2006 St. Peterburg, Russia
2006 John Katy St Petersburg Russia2006 Russia
2005 Katy John Beijing China2005 Beijing, China
2005 John Forbidden City Beijing China 2005 John Forbidden City Beijing China2005 China
2000 Katy John wedding mementoes 2000 Katy John wedding ketubah2000
2000 wedding
Paul Katy John Jessica wedding 4 July 20002000 wedding

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Images Copyright 2000-2020 by Katy Dickinson.

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