As many of SF-Fandom's long-time members know, Dixie was always there during a crisis whether it be a need to change hosting providers or to upgrade the forums at the most inconvenient of times. Dixie always seemed to have a little extra time to help out when help seemed most unavailable.
She joined the Xenite.Org community in April 1997 as a volunteer editor for Xena Online Resources. Within a few months Dixie had taken on responsibility for managing that team and keeping Xenite.Org running smoothly while I was unavailable for a few weeks.
We worked on many projects together, some of which never saw the light of day. I had fun teasing her in our 10th anniversary article for Xenite.Org. I watched Dixie progress from someone who had never touched HTML before to become a highly competent Web design and development professional who not only kept our own sites going but also found time to hold down a full-time job at a university.
Somewhere along the way Dixie handed the technical reins back to me because, frankly, she needed a change in lifestyle. We stayed in touch and shared adventures and laughs and miseries. But though I have myself become quite capable at doing all the technical tasks Dixie once mastered for us, I often miss having to talk to her at 2AM in the morning about how to fight off some spammers or what to do about someone causing problems in the forums.
We were only able to meet offline a couple of times but what times they were. She was full of life and fire and just never seemed ready to stop. Her other friends on Facebook are as in deep shock as I am, for none of us saw this coming. A large hole has been left in many lives and it will take time for so many people to heal.
To Dixie's husband Kim, her children, and her closest friends I extend our warmest thoughts and best wishes on behalf of the SF Fandom community.
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