Joseph Eldon “Jed” Dickman

Mountain Rest, SC — Joseph E. “Jed” Dickman, 66, died on October 26 at Piedmont Health Richland. He was the son of the late Joseph W. and Sue Bowers Dickman. Reared in Tipp City, OH, he moved to South Carolina in 1992. He retired from Ingles in Walhalla.

 

One of the first deaf students to be mainstreamed in public school, he studied lip-reading at a boarding school in St. Louis before attending Ohio schools. A friend from his school days remembers challenging him on his first day by whispering, “You can’t read my lips,” to which he promptly replied, “Yes, I can.” One of his proudest accomplishments was to have achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, among the first deaf scouts to do so. He was a long-standing member of LaWinda Golf Club in Mountain Rest, founded by his late uncle, Dr. James Bowers. Prior to his move to South Carolina, he played drums in a band founded by his Ohio friends.

 

He is survived by an aunt, Joyce Bowers of Mountain Rest, and four cousins – James Bowers (Sarah) of Walhalla, John Bowers (Lisa) of Mountain Rest, Jane Bowers Hill (Robert) of Westminster, and Ed Eckerly (Linda) of New Carlisle, OH – as well as several second and third cousins who are their offspring. He was also preceded in death by his uncle and aunt Harold and Margaret Eckerly of New Carlisle and another aunt, Alberta Bowers, of Walhalla.

 

A memorial service will be held at the Mountain Rest Community Club on Friday, November 2, 2018 at 5:30 PM. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Oconee Humane Society, P.O. Box 966, West Union, SC 29696 in Jed’s memory.