Dedria Dickman

Dedria Karen Dickman (born Youngblood), was born on June 12th, 1954. She had a beautiful smile that always made you think she knew something you did not. Her laugh could be both obnoxious and infectious. She never apologized for who she was and always had the courage to speak her mind and be herself -- no matter what. Queen Dee they call her to this day. She lived at full speed and did her best. No one can ever forget meeting her. This is a fact – one-hundred percent provable by science.

Dedria’s capacity to love and to feel compassion for those around her made them love her. Family was always present. Her family was deep and rich in its devotion and love for one another. Her mother, Joyce, had 11 brothers and sisters who all married and had children. Family gatherings were events - better than Disneyland! Her greatest gift was that she always tried to make you feel like family, no matter who you were.

In 1992, her devotion turned to one man, Norbert, with whom she shared a marriage for 28 years. She was devoted to him all the way, and he was equally devoted to her. They travelled the world, dined on fine cuisine, and sampled the best wine. They took care of each other through thick and thin. They truly loved one another and did everything together.

She grew up in East Texas in a small, sawmill town called Beaumont and then moved to Lafayette, Louisiana, where she graduated high school. She played volleyball because she had long legs and could “outrun all those short Cajun boys” on the football team. She had always dreamed of going to school to be an interior designer. While she never did, Norbert gave her homes in Italy and Tahoe to decorate and make her own – all places made to entertain friends and family. She worked hard and came home to watch soaps and talk with her girlfriends on the phone. Then a concert, a party, or a festival – all while juggling motherhood. Her life was full and rich and tragic at times, but she overcame adversity and stayed devoted.

We lost Dedria last Thursday morning, March 11, 2021. Her final hours were spent in happy reunion with loved ones, toasting to joyous memories and her beloved Norbert, who passed away exactly one-year prior on March 11, 2020. There is something both beautiful and poetic about that. Her immediate family, Spence Gilbert, Mike and Brienne Dickman, Matt Dickman and Erica Goudy, and Jenny and Kip Portz, her seven grandchildren, Logan, Ford, Reagan, Grace, Sloan, Kalan and Milly, and her brother and sister-in-law, Henry and Heather Vasterling, among many other friends and family, will miss her deeply.