Ulla Smedberg Dixon

Ulla Smedberg Dixon passed peacefully into the eternal presence of her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ at the age of 89 on April 16, 2024 in Falls Church, Virginia. She was born in Gothenburg, Sweden on January 5, 1935, the daughter of civil engineer Ingemar and Ebba (Lindberg) Smedberg. Ulla’s father and mother had lived in America briefly and had met and married there before returning to Sweden, where all their children were born and raised. Ulla’s father died when she was only six years old, and ten years later, in 1951, her widowed mother returned to America accompanied by her own mother and four children. From her earliest years, Ulla loved wildflowers. In her youth she roamed the woods and meadows near her home and nearby areas in Sweden, collecting specimens. She pressed each one in her plant press and mounted it on a large sheet of heavy paper, observing professional standards. She labeled each specimen with its Latin name and common Swedish name, the plant family, where and when she found it, and her own name “Ulla Smedberg.” That herbarium of 178 plant specimens came with her to America. Less than two years after arriving in America, Ulla entered Wheaton College in Illinois as a freshman chemistry major. There she met her future husband Bill, also a chemistry major. From Bill’s perspective, “resistance was futile,” and the two became man and wife right out of college, in 1957. It was the beginning of nearly 67 years of an exciting lifetime adventure together. They began their marriage in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Bill completed his graduate studies in chemistry. Ulla, always ready to take on new challenges, eventually earned two more degrees as a non-traditional student: a master’s degree in science education, and a B.S. in nursing. Ulla and Bill soon developed a shared interest in other peoples and cultures. During their marriage, they visited more than sixty countries, living in four of them at various times: Denmark, Canada, Zambia, and Tanzania. While there, Ulla variously worked in laboratory research, nursing and teaching, while Bill was occupied with teaching and research. Ulla and Bill raised their family of two daughters in Oneonta, New York, where they lived for 48 years. There they were long-time members of Main Street Baptist Church, where Ulla served as a Sunday School teacher and a member of the Missions Committee. At other periods in their marriage, she and Bill lived in Wheaton, Illinois, and, in retirement, in Haymarket and Springfield, Virginia. Ulla has always been the beating heart of her family, a treasure to her husband and her daughters. She taught her children and grandchildren fluency in her native language. She researched and wrote books on her family’s history. She had a flourishing correspondence with friends and family here and abroad. Among other things, she loved to bake, embroider, and dig in the garden, and she taught her two girls to do the same. On mid-winter days, the family often went cross-country skiing at Gilbert Lake State Park near Oneonta. Bill came to share Ulla’s love for wildflowers. In later years, hurricane season often saw her and Bill head south as volunteers for disaster relief work with the Red Cross. They regularly assisted at Red Cross blood drives. Ulla loved to have children around her. She was devoted to her family and to her Savior. Her family sorely misses her. Ulla is survived by her husband Bill; her two daughters, Stefanie Ruth Berg with husband David, and Sarah Christina Dixon; her two grandchildren Leif-Axel Berg and Karolina Berg; and two sisters, Kerstin Romanucci of Niskayuna, NY and Rita Hansen of Charlotte, NC. She was predeceased by her father and mother, her infant brother Eric, and her brother Bengt. And what of that other child of hers – the herbarium with its 178 plant specimens? That portion of Ulla’s life will live on. It was accepted in 2017 by the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of Natural History, together with Ulla’s original hand-written labeling, to become part of the museum’s outstanding botanical collection. A funeral service for Ulla will be held at The Falls Church Anglican in Falls Church, Virginia on Wednesday, May 29th at 1:30 PM. The service will be live-streamed on the church’s website, www.tfcanglican.org (see immediately below for additional details). Arrangements are by the Murphy Funeral Home in Falls Church. In accordance with Ulla’s wishes, interment of her ashes will take place at her family's grave site in Sweden. If you wish to view the funeral service remotely on May 29th at 1:30 PM: Please click on the church web address --> (www.tfcanglican.org/community-1/funeral-ulla-smedberg-dixon) to access Ulla's funeral webpage. A link to the funeral service LIVE STREAM will appear on this webpage a few minutes before the start of the service. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made either to World Relief, http://www.wr.org (Click blue “Donate” button), or Doctors Without Borders, http://donate.doctorswithoutborders.org/tribute.cfm