Ed Dick, a humanitarian who helped lower color barrier and aided war refugees, dies at 91
Edward Keenan Dick, a Bradenton humanitarian who had a heart for the parentless child, for the war refugee, and for the underdog in general, has died at age 91.
After the Vietnam War, Ed Dick and his wife, Joanne, sponsored 700 Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees. He was also a civil rights champion, committed to the idea that all Americans should be equal in law and in deed.
In 2015, he received Manatee County’s Distinguished Citizen award for his acts of kindness and compassion.
The late Sen. Ed Price once referred to Dick as one of God’s chosen people.
“He epitomizes the scriptures: He who loves God loves his brother and sister. This unassuming man works tirelessly for the less-fortunate and suffering,” Vernon DeSear said in 2015 of Dick.
Joanne and Ed Dick never had children of their own, but they were not childless. They adopted eight children, and helped make their lives better in immeasurable ways.
The youngest child to be adopted, Cristine Civil Chvala, now 35, who is Haitian-American, joined the Dick household as a foster child and was later adopted.
“I had it so rough before and was underweight and malnourished when I came to live with them,”Chvala said. “It was like a dream come true when I came to live with them.
“Dad loved the idea of serving the community and that every underdog got to vote. He was very vocal, very stern, but very loving to us. Being in that environment helped me succeed,’ Chvala said. “Their love for giving was so infectious, I wanted to be like that. They represented blended America where you saw no colors.”
During his Distinguished Citizen award presentation, Ed Dick praised his wife for putting up with his temper, and having to cook for as many as 17 people at a time for months on end.
“Anyone who puts up with me is unbelievable,” Dick said.
Dick was a partner with Dick, Johnson and Jefferson Insurance Agency for 45 years, and was a graduate of the University of Miami. He assembled a coalition of more than 1,000 volunteers and 70 churches in forming Refugee Inc. to assist refugees escaping genocide and abuse following the Vietnam War.
Over the years, Ed and Joanne Dick hosted more than 300 refugees from 10 countries in their home.
He also helped smash racial barriers. He played a key role in bringing Ray Bellamy of Lincoln Memorial High School in Palmetto to the attention of the University of Miami, where he become the first Black Hurricane football player.
“It was my decision to pick Bellamy. His athletic ability, his grades and his demeanor made it easy,” Dick once told the Herald. “He even went on to become student body president at Miami, though there were only 13 Black students in the school at the time. He ran on a platform: ‘It’s not a white thing. It’s not a Black thing. It’s a people thing.’”
“Probably the most important thing I did in my life was break the color line by signing Raymond Bellamy to a football scholarship,” Dick once told the Herald.
“I was working part time for them,” Dick said of the Miami University, his alma mater. “I was the logical person to do it. It wasn’t all that hard. I simply walked over to Lincoln High. Lincoln had the best football team with people of color in the state of Florida. There were three seniors but Raymond had the grades and was president of the student body and that is why I picked him.”
Dick was a founding member of the Sheriff’s Youth Ranch, a former member of the Manatee School Board, and a founding director of Guardian Angels of Southwest Florida, working with Florida Baptist Children’s Homes to provide homes for orphaned or disadvantaged children.
He received the 1977 Silver Medallion from the National Conference of Christians and Jews, the 1979 NAACP Humanitarian Award, the 1997 Louise Rogers Humanitarian Award from the Palmetto Youth Center, the 2008 Volunteer Spirit Award from the Manatee Community Foundation, and the 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award from Manatee County Rural Health.
Joanne Dick died in 2017. Ed Dick was also preceded in death by two of his adopted children, Edward Dick and Kevin Dick. He is survived by Shauna Weeks, Reid Dick, Dawn Foster, Aaron Lenox , Kelly Emmons, and Cristine Civil Chvala.
“He was one of the angels on earth if there ever was one. He was constantly about helping others. He lived the life and set a great example,” Bob Spencer said Thursday of Ed Dick’s passing.
Service is set for 10 a.m. May 22 at Bradenton Christian Reformed Church, 4208 26th St. W., Bradenton. Brown & Sons Funeral Homes & Crematory, 604 43rd St. W., Bradenton, is in charge of arrangements.
