Mary Shea Dixon

Born in Memphis, Tennessee on February 5, 1929, she was the fifth of six children in a very happy Catholic family. She is preceded in death by her husband, David Frank Dixon, by her mother and father, Dr. John and Mrs. Catharine Shea, and by her siblings Jeanne Leatherman, Katherine Roberts, Dr. John Shea, Ellen Thompson and her younger brother Martin Shea.

She is survived and sorely missed by her three loving sons, David Frank Dixon, Jr. (Rosalie Tomeny), John Shea Dixon and Martin Stuart Dixon (Dr. Mary Cronin), and by her four adoring grandchildren, Elexa Nash Dixon (Ben), David Zachary Dixon, David Enoch Dixon, Madeleine Shea Dixon, and two step grandchildren Caroline Tomeny (Danny) and Kristen Tomeny (David).

A great and avid tennis player, Mary ironically met David at the 1948 US National Amateur golf tournament at the Memphis Country Club. David was immediately smitten. They married in Memphis in June of 1949, and moved back to his hometown, New Orleans, where he started Dixon Fine Woods, and they began raising their three young sons.

By the 1960’s, David and Mary’s life turned heavily toward sports, as he began trying to lure the NFL or AFL to New Orleans. First, they assembled a team of local allies, conceived the name New Orleans Saints (named for the world-famous song, “When the Saints Go Marching In”), and then conceived and led the effort to create the Louisiana Superdome. In the late 1960’s, together with Kansas City’s Lamar Hunt, David conceived and led the first major tennis tour, World Championship Tennis, with David serving as the advance man booking facilities, and Mary was the first female Road Manager for any major sports tour.

By the mid-1970’s, when David returned to lead the effort to build and open the Louisiana Superdome, which helped transform downtown New Orleans, Mary fell in love with antiques and opened an antique shop in the French Quarter. Together, she and David opened and ran a shop first on Chartres Street and then Dixon & Dixon of Royal on Royal Street. Ironically, it was from those stores, that the Dixons conceived and founded the USFL, luring Donald Trump into the league and helping bring the New Orleans Breakers to town as well.

Mary’s charm, drive and infinite compassion led her to participate in many of the city’s local charities, from Junior League to the New Orleans Museum of Art, where she co-chaired the second Odyssey Ball. She was also very active in the Catholic Church, helping in dozens of fundraisers for the Archdiocese, and co-chaired the event at St. Louis Cathedral for Pope John Paul II’s visit to New Orleans in 1987.

As years passed and grandchildren arrived, Mary became known to all as “Grandmoe,” proudly bragging about each one to everyone! She was at all the class parties, soccer games, graduations and more, with her constant smile and loving hugs cherished by all to this very moment. And when David passed in 2010, just months after the Saints became World Champions, he did so peacefully while she was holding his hand at their home here in New Orleans.

The Dixons deeply appreciate all the love and great care shown to Mary during her last years at Chateau de Notre Dame. A requiem Mass will be offered at 1 PM, Saturday April 17, 2021 at Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd. Visitation will be held prior to the Mass, from 11 AM to 1 PM. Interment will be in Metairie Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Archdiocese of New Orleans would be appreciated.