Roll Call Tribute

Kimball Funeral Home obituary
S 905 Grand Avenue
PO Box 323
Pullman, Washington 99163
Phone: (509) 334-3303
Fax: 509-334-1005


Michael P. Dixon
(April 3, 1970 - May 7, 2014)

In the early morning of Wednesday, May 7, Michael Perry Dixon suffered a sudden cardiac arrest and returned home to his Heavenly Father. His time on earth was too short, but he managed to fit a full-length life into those 44 years. Mike never let a moment go by when he wasn’t taking care of something or someone. He was a man who never stopped giving—to his wife, his children, his profession, and anyone who needed his help.

Mike was born on April 3, 1970 in Bozeman, Montana and grew up in Redding, California. He was the youngest of seven children, and learned from his wonderful parents and siblings to value family and God above everything else. He also learned from them (and the family cow) how to work hard and get the job done.

He fell in love with Cecily Campbell in 1991 when they were both students at Brigham Young University, and they were married in the Oakland LDS Temple in 1993. Their strong, loving marriage was one of the great joys of his life. He treasured their children: Seth, Jared, Miriam, Caroline, Jacob, Julia, Paul, and Colin. They were his concern, his delight, and all his hobbies rolled into one.

From 1989-91, Mike served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Recife, Brazil. This began a pattern of service to both church and others that was a central part of his character.

Mike followed the example of his beloved brother Dan into civil engineering. He has been a tenured professor at the University of Idaho since 2000 and a licensed professional engineer in Idaho since 2004. Mike earned his Ph.D. degree in civil engineering at Texas A&M University and his masters and undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University.

According to colleagues, Mike was a vital part of the University of Idaho’s transportation research team working within the National Institute for Advanced Transportation Technology (NIATT). His research focused on emerging traffic detection techniques and technologies, intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and transportation systems modeling. He was widely published and was an acting principal investigator on several large research projects. His current grant work included: Improving Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety by Identifying Critical Intersections and Street Segments; Modeling Passing Behavior on Two-Lane Rural Highways: Evaluating Crash Risk under Different Geometric Configurations; and Daily Travel Feedback to Encourage Eco-Routing.

Mike taught several key courses on transportation engineering and traffic systems and was the current advisor to over 20 undergraduate and graduate civil engineering students.

Mike was both an avid cyclist and winter sports enthusiast and loved taking his family skiing in McCall. He and his older children participated in the annual Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic, one of the biggest recreational bicycle rides in the country. Mike and his family are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is survived by his wife Cecily Campbell Dixon; his children Seth, Jared, Miriam, Caroline, Jacob, Julia, Paul, and Colin; his father Neil Dixon; his brothers Dan and Jim; his sisters Juneal Darley, Celecta Moss, Donita Myatt, and Sabrina Jones. His mother Julia Hall Dixon predeceased him. He also leaves behind a large and loving extended family.

An education fund has been set up for his children in his name at Zion’s First National Bank in Moscow.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday May 10, 2014 at the Joseph Street Stake Center of the LDS church in Moscow, with concluding services to follow at the Moscow Cemetery. Viewing is one hour prior in the Relief Society Room.