James Edward Dickson

James Edward Dickson passed away on September 9th , 2025 in Astoria, Oregon, after a long and adventurous life of 87 years. 

The number and location of his vast friendships is impossible to determine – they range from Hawaii to Italy, from Alaska to Venezuela. He was humble despite his achievements, ignoring status and accepting people based on their actions. This was a man always willing to help anyone he met. His life was marked by team efforts, from baseball to a logging crew, as a Marine or at a fish camp in Alaska. He loved the outdoors and animals, his friends and most of all his family. Although he traveled the world, his heart was in the woods, or on the water with a fishing pole in his hands.

He was born in Portland, Oregon on April 20th, 1938 to Homer and Florence Dickson. Tragically, his father passed away when he was very young, leaving his widow to raise the family in Seaside. A graduate of Seaside High School in 1956, he lettered in both baseball and basketball. His accomplishments in baseball resulted in his induction to the Seaside Hall of Fame. After high school he briefly attended college at Clark College and also the University of Oregon before leaving to begin his professional baseball career, which started with being signed by the Pittsburg Pirates in 1958. Over the course of the next decade, his career led him to many teams and locations, up to the Major League level, where he made appearances with the Houston Colt 45’s, Cincinnati Reds, and Kansas City Athletics. At the AAA level, he played for Vancouver, Phoenix, Iowa, San Diego, and Oklahoma City. He also spent time during his 13 years of professional ball in Douglas, Columbus, Grand Forks, Savannah, Burlington, and Mobile. In the offseason, he played in numerous locations such as Venezuela and Costa Rica, while also being a member of the United State Marine Reserves, or as a lumberjack back home in Oregon.

Upon the completion of his final year in pro baseball with Oklahoma City, he finished his college education at Central State (now the University of Central Oklahoma), returning to Oregon a few years later. There are many former students of his in Clatsop County, where he was the driver’s education instructor for 17 years in addition to coaching baseball for both Warrenton and Astoria at various times. He left teaching and coaching in Oregon to go back to professional coaching in Italy, where he spent a total of 11 years. As a player or coach, he was a member of 10 different championship teams, from the high school level to AAA.

Jim is survived by his son, Steve Dickson, daughter in law Angela, grandchildren Sophia, Rachel, Lily and Jacob, and great granddaughter Octavia, all of of Midwest City, Oklahoma; his sister Susan Burke of Seaside, and numerous nieces, nephews, and extended family. He is preceded in death by his parents Homer and Florence Dickson, his brother Tom Dickson, and Tom’s twin sister Nancy.

Arrangements are pending and will be announced soon.