It is mid-December 2020, in the midst of the global Covid pandemic, but I just learned of John's passing. Today from this obituary site. I remember him from his faculty position before OSU, at the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle (UICC as it was then, UIC now) in the early to mid 1970s. I was an undergraduate Mass Communications major and John was one of the professors who had the greatest influence on me, and many others I am sure. I remember his quick wit, serious scholarship, and near complete absence of the traditional faculty/ undergraduate student hierarchal sensibility. Not the easiest grader, but you knew you were getting an honest and clear view. TV production is an inherently collaborative process, and accordingly we all contribute to the success, or the failure (sometimes both at once) of the undertaking.  He did socialize with us students on occasion. He came to a party at my apartment once. Decades later, after attending my own 40th HS reunion, I made a point of finding some of my most memorable teachers, and John was near the top of my list. I found him at OSU and we spoke for a time. I learned that he had a passion for jazz, something I had grown into along the way. I learned of his more recent research into the economics of media niches. He would have been fascinated with our social mediated world now.  I miss him.

Derek, Jessica, Mark, Ashley and Families purchased the The Acquaintance for the family of John Dimmick .

James, Chen & Mandy Li purchased the Angel Arrangement for the family of John Dimmick .

I just read about this recently... John was remarkable. He was one of the very first faculty that I met at OSU when I interviewed there in 2009. We talked about this Theory of Media Niche (i hadn't been familiar with it) and it's been a mainstay in my media lectures every since. 

Perhaps more importantly - he was such a genuine guy. It was my first job interview and he could tell I was a bit uneasy interviewing with the heavyweights at OSU. That first night out at dinner, he was easy to talk to - gruff and direct, but relaxing and honest. I really appreciated my short time with John.
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I first met John during my first year as a student at OSU by sassily responding to some comment he threw at us grad students as he walked by our offices to get to his own. He seemed startled that I responded, but from then on we were friends. I never took a class with him, or worked on a project with him, but I have so many fond memories of him from grad school. The sarcastic taunts back and forth as he walked past my office never ceased. The many shared lunches talking about everything but school - and in particular his love of dessert at La Chatelaine (the first place he took me to lunch) - will be something I will always remember. 
The best part about being an academic is the ability to meet up with old friends at regularly scheduled conferences, and we would get together whenever we were at the same conference. The last time I saw John was in Chicago in frigid November, and I got us lost walking to dinner - sure that I knew just where we were going. When we finally got there, he just stared at me and said "Next time, we get a cab" with his perfect deadpan expression and tone, and then we both burst out laughing. I am so thankful that John was a part of my life and he will be greatly missed.

Most of my memories with John took place in his office during our early morning meetings. Of course, he always joked that they were only “early” for me. So since he had already had is morning coffee he would go over to his keurig-like single coffee maker and kindly make a cup for me. Until the coffee kicked in, he would always call me out when I was trying to stifle a yawn from time to time. We worked on whatever current study we were running or reporting but we always spent a lot of time catching up on life happenings, telling stories and laughing. I also have fond memories of our lunches at the Old Bag of Nails Pub and am thankful John and Karen were able to attend my wedding. 

I attached a picture from our last AEJMC conference reunion together about three years ago. His previous students and I were happy to be able to take him to lunch and show him our appreciation for his mentorship and friendship. He will be remembered always and often.

Being a family member I don't know if it is kosher for me to leave a memory of John but anyway here it goes. John was always there in our home. As far as I knew he was my mother and fathers older son. He always seemed to be our boss when Mom and Dad were away; All through my childhood I idolized John and wanted to emulate myself to be just like him. He was a wonderful person and liked to laugh a lot, yet he was also concerned at keeping our family together. He was very instrumental in planning any reunions we had. We shared an interest in historical things and enjoyed visting historical sights. I will miss him greatly and hope he is happy in Heaven. John may the good Lord bless you and keep you. May make his face to shine upon you and give you peace until we meet again. God has a wonderful angel to help spread his sunshine up in heaven. Take care and say hello to all of the family who went before us. Your bro-cuz Rod

My office was next to John’s when I first started as a faculty in the School of Communication at Ohio State. He was one of the first people to stick his head in the door just to say hello and welcome me to the School. His friendliness and warmth meant the world to me.

One of my favorite things about John was that he loved talking about emerging media. He was very thoughtful; he would cut articles out of the newspaper on technology and bring them to me in case I hadn’t seen them. I would joke that we were probably the only two media technology scholars who still got the paper delivered. 

He made a great intellectual contribution to the field that is still influencing work today. I spent the last year really digging into his work. It’s hard to study things like media technologies in a way that outlasts the ebb and flow of various trends, but his work is still inspiring modern scholarship. Dr. John Dimmick will be missed as both a friend and a scholar. My thoughts are with the family.

I know that words from others are the smallest of comforts right now, but many of us here in Ohio State Design, Advising, and the School of Communications are thinking about John and the family, friends, and colleagues he has left behind now. Personally, I only met him twice, once when he came to the office during my first month as an advisor, which overlapped with his wife's last month in the same role. The other when I was invited to his and Karen's home to help Karen with a Facebook issues she was having. He seemed like a great guy — funny and trustworthy.

OBITUARY

John W. Dimmick

October 26, 1944 – May 20, 2016

Schoedinger Midtown

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