I am so saddened to hear of your loss
You have many wonderful memories to cherish.   May God be with you today and always.  Love you Paul and Judy Taylor 

Daddy taught me lots of valuable things growing up and some were conveyed in the strangest ways but received none the less. Like when I would leave the house and say “bye daddy I’ll see you later” , he would say “okay, don’t bend over at the waist” 😆 He taught me to never pull an electrical cord out of the wall by the cord, always use the plug he would say. He taught me how to use a tire pressure gauge. When I got my drivers license,  he offered me the chance to drive his semi around the yard at the plant as my first experience behind a wheel but I was too afraid to do it. He told me never to turn your wheels while your vehicle is stationary, it’s bad on the car or the tires lol. He got me my first credit card and taught me about finances and how these days you have to owe someone something to establish credit. I still have the same credit card to this day. He would always say the quirkiest things like when you would ask him how he was feeling he would say “with my fingers”. He even told us that days before he passed when we asked how he was feeling. He always gave everyone the benefit of doubt and “let things go”.  He was extremely inquisitive. No matter where we went you could turn around and there he was inspecting the hardware on the door or the hinges on a cabinet whether we were at a restaurant or a doctors office, it didn’t matter, he was investigating the smallest details that no one else even noticed. I’m positive if there were hinges on the Pearly Gates he surely stopped to check them out before entering. Miss you daddy. 

Daddy was the most orderly person I’ve ever known. He had to arrive to a function almost an hour early or he was “late”. He was never hurrying around to do anything. His military mindset never left him. He always used military time. He had a place for everything and everything was always in its place. You couldn’t move his toothpick without him knowing. If you so much as bumped something on his dresser or desk he would say “who’s been at my desk/dresser?” There was a precise spot for everything. If he was not home and you needed something and called him to ask where it was he could tell you exactly where to find it “to the left of my black pen and right next to my dental floss…”😆 and sure enough that’s where it was. He hated anyone using things of his, he would say “I’ll buy you your own but don’t use mine!”

Daddy had built his own workshop by hand at our house growing up. It was small but had tons of tools and everything was labeled and in complete order at all times. He had the beams  on the ceiling lined with baby food jars that held every kind of nut and bolt and screw and nail. He had the lids of the jars drilled into the beams so you would just reach up and unscrew the glass jar from its lid and get what you needed and put it back. There wasn’t anything he couldn’t fix. We would take whatever was broken, whether it was a shoe or a clock or anything  and leave it on his workbench and it would be good as new the next day. You knew if he couldn’t fix it then it wasn’t 
repairable.

Fred used to ride motorcycles, or should I say Harleys.  Fred had a really nice one and would ride it to work once in a while.  I understand that one day Fred told Kay to wash and wax the bike.  Apparently he told her to wax the whole bike.  So she did.  Fred got up, checked the bike out and it looked fine.  He left for work but at the first stop light he came to he went to apply the brakes and nothing happened.  He went right through the intersection.  Much to his surprise, it turns out when he told Kay to wax the whole bike she took him at his word and waxed the whole bike including the brake rotors.  I can just see  the look on Fred's face when he found out he didn't have brakes and went right through the intersection.  When he asked her about it she said you told me to wax the whole bike so I did!

Fred and I were best friends for 50 years give or take a year or two.  Fred did not like automatic transmissions.  Many years ago Fred bought a new Monte Carlo. I don't remember the year but they did not offer a standard transmission.  The day after the warranty ran out Fred had a Corvette four speed transmission waiting in the garage.  The automatic came out and the four speed went in.  Putting a four speed in where an automatic was is not for the novice or faint of heart because the brake and clutch will not line up.  But Fred put it in and took it out many times making adjustments until they worked perfectly together.  He then rebuilt the center console putting the four speed stick in where the automatic gear selector used to be.  He redid that several times until he had it looking just like it came from the factory.  The whole job was so perfect that when he went to trade it in the Chevy car dealer thought it was from the factory and came back to Fred saying we can't find your Monte Carlo listed in our used car trade-in book.  When Fred explained what he had done they were absolutely amazed.  If I remember correctly,  they gave him more money for the car then what the book said it was worth. 
 Fred was one of a kind and I will miss him greatly.  John Baxley

I remember when we were younger, papaw was always so silly. He would be chewing his hubba bubba gum and would say hey Camilla do you want some ABC (already been chewed) gum? It would always make me laugh. Carissa and I would pretend to be waitresses and take his lunch orders while he sat in his usual spot at the dining table. He always had the silliest names for street names that would make me chuckle. I wasn’t very close with him, but the memories I have of him from my youth were always good and I’ll forever cherish them♥️

OBITUARY

Frederick Arnold Dickmeyer

November 30, 1941 – September 15, 2022

Blount & Curry Funeral Home Oldsmar West Hillsborough Chapel

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