The Austin Excessive Faculty neighborhood named the Junior Reserve Officers’ Coaching Corps (JROTC) constructing in honor of Sergeant First Class (SFC) Freddy L. Dickey, a U.S. Military veteran and longtime educator.
Dickey devoted greater than 4 many years to service, 22 years within the navy and one other 22 shaping younger lives as a JROTC teacher, athletic coach and mentor within the Houston Impartial Faculty District.
The ceremony drew greater than 70 attendees, together with relations, former college students, college and neighborhood leaders.
A lifetime of service
Born in Porter, Texas and a 1976 graduate of Huntsville Excessive Faculty, Dickey spent 20 years within the Military, incomes a number of honors, together with the Military Achievement Medal, the Good Conduct Medal and the Military Service Ribbon. After retiring from energetic obligation in 1999, he pursued greater schooling in mission administration and felony justice whereas starting a brand new chapter at Austin Excessive Faculty.
There, Dickey grew to become greater than an teacher. To the 300 cadets he taught yearly, he was a mentor, confidant and father determine. Recognized affectionately as “Grandpa,” he had a contagious smile and a present for connecting with college students, whether or not by sharing ramen noodles in his workplace, cracking jokes or serving to change a pupil’s engine oil on a sweltering day.
Since 1999, he has mentored 1000’s of scholars, instilling in them the values of navy management, self-discipline and repair. Past the classroom, he served as an athletic coach and trusted information to youth throughout the district, impacting over 300 cadets every year.
Household reflections
For Dickey’s spouse and kids, the dedication was deeply private.
“Being his daughter, I used to be blessed,” mentioned his daughter Connie Dickey. “Phrases can not even specific the data of what he achieved in our honor, all of his accolades and such. However in different phrases, to see this taking place is profound and phrases fail to specific.”
Dickey’s son, NeAndrew Dickey, described the renaming as “an enormous milestone” for the household and neighborhood.
“It exhibits us and the world how huge a coronary heart he had in the direction of all people and the way a lot he meant to all people,” he mentioned.
Respect and dedication, his youngsters famous, have been the central classes he instilled inside them.
Neighborhood chief and a household buddy of the Dickeys, Dr. Meochea Cash, referred to as it “a celebration of his honor and legacy” and emphasised its historic significance.
“Folks have been joyful and really joyful,” mentioned Cash, who helped coordinate the occasion. “In his honor, they [attendees] have been simply remembering the nice issues that he’s carried out locally. He was impactful in folks’s lives…I do consider he left his legacy and set the bar excessive for simply not solely people which have served locally, but in addition served the nation.”
Struggles behind the tribute
Whereas the day was crammed with satisfaction and gratitude, relations additionally revealed challenges in bringing the dedication to fruition. Whereas the HISD faculty board introduced in 2022 that it might honor Dickey by naming the ROTC constructing after him, the household mentioned they have been left to cowl a lot of the related prices: Greater than $4,500 for signage, custodial companies and safety.
“However, they didn’t pay for the funding,” mentioned Connie Dickey. “So, my mom and I obtained collectively and paid for that constructing…They [HISD] have been taking so lengthy that I simply mentioned, ‘That is lengthy sufficient, I hate procrastination. I’ll get this began.’”
Regardless of the frustration, the household insists the sacrifice was price it.
“It was an honor to have that unveiled,” mentioned Mary Dickey, his spouse. “We did rather a lot, nevertheless it was price it.”
A long-lasting legacy
SFC Freddy L. Dickey’s influence is etched not simply within the partitions of Austin Excessive Faculty’s ROTC constructing, however within the lives of 1000’s of scholars and households who proceed to hold his classes.
“He was one in every of a sort,” his daughter mentioned. “He was greater than a father; he was a conqueror to many. His legacy will reside on.”
