Richard “Dick” Dickinson

Richard “Dick” Dickinson (2 Jan 1928 – 1 Dec 2008) spent his early years in Petersburg. When he saw the Count Basie Orchestra in 1940, he decided to become a drummer. He honed his technique while in the U.S. Army in the late ’40s and then at Florida State University and Indiana University. He dropped out of school in 1953 to concentrate on playing music full-time in Indianapolis, accompanying Wes Montgomery, J.J. Johnson, and other well-known local musicians.

He formed his own band in the 1960s and played in the few clubs that were left, supplementing his income through various day jobs. From 1985 to 1990, Dickinson hosted a radio show, Just Jazz, where he was able to share the music that he said was his source of “brotherhood and the joy of living.” He was inducted into the Indianapolis Jazz Foundation Hall of Fame in 1998. For 22 years, Dickinson and his jazz band played every Wednesday night at The Chatterbox bar until he retired in April 2008. His cremains are buried in the Anatomical Section 41-A, Lot 153; GPS (39.8214211, -86.1641622).