Tag Archives: Wade

February 3, 2012 · 12:31 am

ORNL Momento

Since my father died, we have been sorting out his belongings and affairs. This week, his brother Wayne sent me one of Wade Dickinson’s prize possessions, his ORNL badge from around 1950. My father attended the School for Reactor Technology at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory near Knoxville, Tennessee, after he was graduated from West Point in 1949. Apparently, this small oval brass badge was used for identification and entry into the facility. It is engraved with “S-SITE 328”. My father used to keep it on his key chain. I hope it is not radioactive!

Leave a comment

Filed under Home & Family, News & Reviews

Tagged as Wade

January 15, 2012 · 11:31 pm

Past and Future Homes

Saturday, John, my mother, and I spent another day of sorting and packing my parents’ San Francisco home. As my daughter Jessica wrote, this is about Dirt, Dust, and Duty. I shipped five boxes of my father’s clothes to my older brother, put five more boxes of family quilts, lace, and linens into the car, then packed in two small tables, two mirrors, some art, and a shower chair. Everything but the shower chair goes into storage. My uncle came over to pack some of his stuff. Then I did a walk through with the mover in preparation for his crew returning next weekend.

Today was my day off. After church, I worked in my poor neglected and dog-pounded garden. Then, John and Paul and I spent several hours reviewing the construction proposal for the new addition to our home in Willow Glen. Comparing the proposal to the architect’s drawings, we discussed flooring, counter tops, lighting, electrical outlets, TV cables, and all of the other minutiae which are so expensive if you don’t get them right the first time.

Our house addition will initially be for my 80-year-old mother, so we are making it wheelchair accessible, just in case. This means more than just a roll-in shower and wider doorways. Can she get into the pantry? Should the doors open in or out? So much to consider!

Leave a comment

Filed under Church, Home & Family, News & Reviews

Tagged as Dogs, Eleanor, Jessica, John, Paul, San Francisco, San Jose, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Wade, Willow Glen

January 7, 2012 · 5:32 pm

Wade’s Obituary

My wonderful daughter Jessica took on the task of getting the obituary of her grandfather, Wade Dickinson, published after his death in November. She worked on this for weeks.* It turns out that there are few obituaries considered news: most are paid for by the family. After much research, we chose to publish my father’s obituary in two newspapers:

The Sharon Herald, published near where he was born 85 years ago, in Hickory Township, Pennsylvania
The San Francisco Chronicle, published where he lived for over 50 years.

Even though we mostly communicate electronically here in the Silicon Valley, it was important to my mother to see his obituary published in the paper. Publishing an obituary is very expensive. Newspapers seem to consider grieving families fair game and charge as much as they can. This pair cost $132 and $450 respectively for a one-time publication. Even so, the Chronicle had to republish because they misprinted his name the first time. The Herald version is longer because it cost less – the same text in the Chronicle would have cost over $1,000. The San Francisco text reads:

Ben Wade Oakes Dickinson died at the age of 85 in November 2011 at his home in San Francisco. Wade was born in 1926 in Hickory Township PA, to Ben Wade Orr Dickinson, Jr., and Gladys Grace Oakes Dickinson. He is survived by his wife, Eleanor, his brother and business partner of 50 years Wayne, his 3 children: Mark, Katy, and Peter, and 6 grandchildren: Jessica and Paul, Corey and Forrest, Lynda and Daniel. Wade was a West Point graduate, and Technical Advisor on Atomic Energy to the US Congress. He taught Engineering entrepreneurship for 19 years at UC Berkeley, and was a lay leader at St. Mary the Virgin Episcopal Church. Wade’s first patent was granted in 1965 and his 39th in 2011. His funeral was on 4 December 2011, in San Francisco.

Rest in peace.

1/13/2012 addition:
* One of the reasons it took so long to place these obits is because the family had to prove to each paper that Wade Dickinson is dead. Jessica just placed her grandfather’s third obituary with the Knoxville News Sentinel, the paper in my mother’s home town (where my parents met at a dance in 1951). The Knoxville News Sentinel required a copy of his certificate of death, plus a call to the mortuary, plus a call to the widow before accepting the obit placement. I understand that someone might try to place an obit as a joke and that fact checking is important but some sensitivity toward the mourning family is also appropriate.

1/18/2012 addition:
Thanks again to Jessica for all of her patience and work placing the obituaries in the SF Chronicle, Sharon Herald, and Knoxville News Sentinel. My uncle just called to say that a friend of my grandfather called him after seeing Wade’s obit. My mother has been happy to get many letters of condolence from friends who saw the Chronicle last week. Newspapers are still important, even in our social media world!

Leave a comment

Filed under Home & Family, News & Reviews

Tagged as Eleanor, Jessica, San Francisco, San Jose, Wade

January 2, 2012 · 9:11 pm

Moving My Mother

Since my father’s death in November, we have been spending all spare time moving my 80-year-old artist mother to live with us in San Jose. Moving Eleanor Creekmore Dickinson and two cats and clothes and computer and TV were the easy part. Clearing the San Francisco Victorian house she lived in for 45 years is a more complex task. The house has two flights of stairs up to the main floor and another spiral staircase to the bedrooms. Even with four hefty movers, getting large fragile antiques safely out and into a truck was a challenge.

Last week, we completed the move for 70 years of my mother’s art into storage. Today, we finally finished moving most of the big family furniture. The biggest chore was moving “General Burnside”, a huge armoire we named after that infamous Civil War general because my mother bought it from the house he occupied as his military headquarters. General Burnside was full of my mother’s collection of moonshine and other liquors plus the glassware to serve them. It took hours to empty and take apart for transport.

John and I are building an addition to our house for my mother but that will not be done for many months. Until then, she is staying in our spare bedroom in Willow Glen and we have a house sitter in San Francisco. The family furniture has for many years been divvied up between my brothers and me (using the distribution system I wrote about) but my mother will continue to use some of it during her lifetime. Her art will be stored for the long-term but we expect that the furniture will be out and in use again within a year. I will be so happy when this is all done!

Here is a drawing of what our new construction will look like, eventually:

Moving General Burnside:

Here is what our new storage unit looks like – with antiques gently packed in like puzzle pieces:

3 Comments

Filed under Home & Family, News & Reviews

Tagged as cats, Eleanor, John, San Francisco, San Jose, Wade, Willow Glen

December 6, 2011 · 10:39 pm

My Father’s Funeral

My father’s funeral was on Sunday at the Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin in San Francisco. About 175 people attended, including his extended family and friends. You can read Wade Dickinson’s obituary here. The service and reception went well. My brother Pete and I gave eulogies. My husband and Marian Brischle read Bible passages. Jessica sang “Amazing Grace” beautifully. For the hymns we picked “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”, “America the Beautiful”, and “Eternal Father, Strong to Save”. The Travis Air Force Base Honor Guard performed the impressive veteran’s flag ceremony with “Taps” played by a volunteer bugler from Bugles Across America.

When the honor guard member presented the triangle-folded flag to my mother, he said: “On behalf of the President of the United States, the Department of the Air Force, and a grateful nation, we offer this flag for the faithful and dedicated service of your loved one.” It was a moving and bittersweet moment.

Memorial donations are requested to: Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Community Outreach: 2325 Union St., San Francisco, CA 94123. Phone: 415-921-3665 (checks made out to: “St.Mary’s Community Outreach” and include “Donation in Memory of Wade Dickinson” on the memo line), or to the charity of your choice.

Leave a comment

Filed under Church, Home & Family, News & Reviews

Tagged as Eleanor, Episcopal church, John, San Francisco, Wade

November 17, 2011 · 12:14 am

On His Own Terms

My father passed away suddenly this morning at home in San Francisco. He had been declining for the last year. We were getting ready to move him closer to our home in Willow Glen but he did not want to go. Wade Dickinson died as he had lived, on his own terms and where he wanted to be. We have been putting together his obituary. Here is what we have so far:

Ben Wade Oakes Dickinson was born 29 October 1926 in Hickory Township (Sharon), Pennsylvania, to Ben Wade Orr Dickinson, Junior, and Gladys Grace Oakes Dickinson. Wade’s one sibling, Robert Wayne, was born eight years later. Wade and Wayne were creative inventing partners for fifty years, starting between seven and twenty-five companies together (depending on how you count) and being granted more than forty patents for a broad variety of technical inventions. Of his 39, Wade’s most recent patent was granted in 2011 (US Patent 7,914,749).

Wade attended Carnegie Institute of Technology, then United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, starting at the end of World War II and graduating in 1949. He studied as a nuclear physicist at the Oak Ridge School of Reactor Technology, worked on the United States Air Force Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion Program, and was a researcher at RAND Corporation, in Santa Monica, California. Wade was honorably discharged from the US Air Force with the rank of Captain. He joined Bechtel Corporation, during which time he was Technical Advisor on Atomic Energy to the US Congress. Wade and Wayne went into business in San Francisco, founding W.W. Dickinson Corporation, Agrophysics, Petrolphysics, and other businesses, applying their knowledge of physics and engineering to solve problems as varied as cardiology, cattle reproduction, and directional oil drilling.

Wade and Wayne and a team of other lecturers taught “Venture Design: The Start Up Company” (Engineering-110) for 19 years at the University of California at Berkeley. Wade was a Mason (West Point, New York, Lodge) for over 60 years. He was a founder and honorary Board member of the California Medical Clinic for Psychotherapy. Wade was a member of the parish of Saint Mary the Virgin Episcopal Church for over 50 years. At St.Mary’s, he served in several church leadership roles (Vestry, Treasurer) and was a dedicated crucifer and chalice bearer. Wade helped the parish to start community outreach ministries to support the hungry and homeless.

Wade married artist Eleanor Evelyn Vaughan Creekmore in 1952 with whom he had three children: Mark, Katy, and Peter. His grandchildren are: Jessica (and her husband Matthew) and Paul, Corey and Forrest, Lynda and Daniel. Wade died at the age of 85 on 16 November 2011 at his home in San Francisco, California.

Wade’s funeral will be held at Saint Mary the Virgin Episcopal Church in San Francisco, at 3 pm on Sunday, 4 December 2011, reception to follow at the church. If you plan to attend the funeral, please arrive early to allow extra time for parking.

Memorial donations are requested instead of flowers, to: Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin Community Outreach: 2325 Union St., San Francisco, CA 94123. Phone: 415-921-3665 (checks made out to: “St.Mary’s Community Outreach” and include “Donation in Memory of Wade Dickinson” on the memo line), or to the charity of your choice.

Goodbye Grandpa – we love you!

Wade Dickinson’s US Patents (1965-2011)

7,914,749  Clathrate hydrate modular storage, applications and utilization processes
6,206,112  Multiple lateral hydraulic drilling apparatus and method
6,142,246  Multiple lateral hydraulic drilling apparatus and method
5,035,285  Gravel packing system for a production radial tube
4,991,667  Hydraulic drilling apparatus and method
4,974,672  Gravel packing system for a production radial tube
4,872,509  Oil well production system using a hollow tube liner
4,865,128  Gravel packing system for a production radial tube
4,852,668  Hydraulic drilling apparatus and method
4,790,394  Hydraulic drilling apparatus and method
4,787,465  Hydraulic drilling apparatus and method
4,763,734  Earth drilling method and apparatus using multiple hydraulic forces
4,750,561  Gravel packing system for a production radial tube
4,715,128  Curvature probe and method
4,693,327  Mechanically actuated whipstock assembly
4,560,934  Method of transporting a payload in a borehole
4,527,639  Hydraulic piston-effect method and apparatus for forming a bore hole
4,524,324  Downhole instrument including a flexible probe which can travel freely around bends in a borehole
4,501,337  Apparatus for forming and using a bore hole
4,497,381  Earth drilling apparatus and method
4,431,069  Method and apparatus for forming and using a bore hole
4,091,807  Intra-vaginal device and method of use
3,938,504  Method for measuring vagina dimensions
3,854,476  INTRA-VAGINAL DEVICE AND METHOD
3,811,443  METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION
3,811,424  ARTIFICIAL METHOD FOR MODIFYING THE REPRODUCTIVE CYCLE IN ANIMALS
3,811,423  DEVICE FOR INSERTION INTO THE REPRODUCTIVE TRACT AND METHOD OF USING SAME
3,546,927  ULTRASONIC TESTING APPARATUS
3,460,492  METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DISPENSING SEEDS COATED WITH A MAGNETIC MATERIAL
3,407,650  Ultrasonic apparatus for detecting flaws
3,407,649  Method and apparatus for generating a high power ultrasonic burst pulse signal
3,407,122  Solar still with a cassegranian optical system
3,299,696  Apparatus for generating, directing and receiving ultrasonic wave trains
3,299,695  Ultrasonic testing apparatus
3,299,694  Method and apparatus for detecting flaws using ultrasonic helical waves
3,282,087  Apparatus for generating ultrasonic waves
3,250,120  Method and apparatus for determining flaw locations
3,186,216  Method and apparatus for generating and receiving ultrasonic helical waves
One more from the 1950s... Still looking

43 Comments

Filed under Church, Home & Family, News & Reviews

Tagged as Eleanor, Episcopal church, Jessica, John, Matthew, Paul, San Francisco, San Jose, Wade

October 30, 2011 · 9:28 pm

My Father is 85

Wade Dickinson, my father, turned 85 this week. We had a birthday party for him at home in San Francisco. I gave him the 85th birthday book, which he liked very much. Uncle Wayne, my father’s partner for most of their lives and co-inventor with him on more than 30 patents, came to the party along with other friends and admirers. John and I brought in a feast from Andy’s Bar-B-Que, to which my mother added chocolate cake and ice cream.

2 Comments

Filed under Home & Family, News & Reviews

Tagged as Eleanor, San Francisco, Wade

Tag Archives: Wade

ORNL Momento

Past and Future Homes

Wade’s Obituary

Moving My Mother

My Father’s Funeral

On His Own Terms

My Father is 85

Email Subscription

Categories

Blogroll

Recent Posts