Bio
Inducted 2008
track
Bill Dickson started running at a young age in Midland Pennsylvania, a small steel town on the Ohio River. When Bill was 12, the Dicksons moved to Ontario where he continued running and playing football at Vina Danks Jr High and Chaffey High School.
It was at Chaffey College that Bill started running the 100 and 220. In his first Triangle Meet, George Colbath had him run the third leg of the Mile Relay. Tom Yolden wrote that “Bill got the baton 30 yards behind Santa Ana and San Bernardino and still caught then at 300 yards holding on to give Jerry Brady the baton in First and Jerry went one to win. It looks like Bill will be a 440 runner.” He went on that year to place 2nd in the 440 and 3rd in the 220 in the Eastern Conference. His Mile Relay team set a record of 3 21.3. Overall Chaffey came in 3rd in the conference, the best finish for Colbath in his first 6 years of coaching.
The following year, the college moved to Alta Loma. With no track, all workouts were held at Upland High School resulting in no home meets. Despite the transition, the team advanced to the Southern California Finals. Family tragedy forced Bill to compete in only one event that meet – the Mile Relay, setting a new team record of 3 14.6. But dreams of a state championship were dashed when Jerry Brady was bumped in the anchor leg of the relay by a Mt Sac runner.
A year later, Bill lost his father and left Chaffey to begin a career at Kaiser Steel, where he would stay for 45 years. As Quality Assurance Coordinator, Bill was part of the transition from Kaiser to California Steel Industries.
Bill has been married to Vearl Stanphill Dickson for 34 years. Together they have raised three daughters, Cassandra, Lori and Candice and a son, Tracy. They are proud grandparents of four granddaughters and one grandson.
The Dicksons now enjoy spending time traveling around the country in their motor home with their dog Bravo.