Philip Charles Dixon was born in Flushing, New York, on July 24, 1952, to Harold Frederick Eldon Dixon and Doris Edith Page Dixon. He passed away peacefully on October 16, 2026, surrounded by family.Phil’s life was shaped by his love for Anne and their family, his Savior Jesus Christ, and a curiosity that carried him across cultures and continents.Phil grew up in a loving family in New York, the third of four children: Diane, who predeceased him; Hal; Phil; and Priscilla. He attended Buckley Country Day School and then Westminster School, a boarding school in Simsbury, Connecticut, graduating in 1970. He then attended St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, near the Adirondack Mountains, where he graduated in 1974 with a degree in philosophy and religion.Two events in college forever changed the course of Phil’s life. The first came during a freshman mixer in his first week on campus. Phil’s roommate, John, arrived with Elizabeth Anne Hobson, a 17-year-old freshman from Summit, New Jersey. After spotting Anne across the dance floor, Phil promptly lost interest in his own date and asked John’s permission to ask Anne out. John agreed. Phil and Anne dated throughout college and married in Short Hills, New Jersey, on July 20, 1974.The second began with an assignment during the fall of his junior year: write a paper on a world religion of his choosing. At his roommate’s suggestion, Phil chose The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, expecting to find a flaw in its beliefs. Instead, his research led him to faith. Through study and prayer, he came to believe in the truths the Church taught and was baptized on February 1, 1973. Anne was baptized shortly thereafter. After graduation and their move to Southern California, they were sealed for time and all eternity in the Los Angeles Temple on September 7, 1974. Because their civil wedding had taken place less than two months earlier, the sealing required special permission from the Church’s First Presidency.After graduation, Phil put his degree in philosophy and religion to work in the perhaps unexpected world of carbon paper and typewriter ribbons, joining his father’s company, Columbia Ribbon & Carbon. He and Anne began married life in Pomona, California, where Douglas was born in 1975. David joined the family in Thousand Oaks in 1977. The family then spent three years in Centerpoint, New York, where Daniel was born in 1980.A new job with Pelikan brought Phil and the family to Franklin, Tennessee, in October 1981. Their only daughter, Diane, was born there in 1983. In those days, just one traffic light stood along Highway 96 between Franklin Square and Murfreesboro, and empty fields and pastures stood where there are now strip malls, car dealerships, and subdivisions.Tempted by who knows what, they moved to Buffalo, New York, in August 1985, where Devin, their youngest, was born in 1986. Eleven months—and one brutal Buffalo winter—later, they returned to Franklin and the very neighborhood they had left. Franklin became the family’s lasting home.Phil first visited Japan in 1978, beginning a lifelong love for the country, its people, and its culture. He taught himself to speak and read Japanese fluently and eventually turned that passion into a career as a much-loved English instructor. Over four decades, he helped hundreds of Japanese families learn English and, for those moving to the United States, find their footing in a new country. He also spent a little over a year living in Shizuoka, Japan, teaching English. Over the years, he took each of his children and their families to Japan, sharing the places and introducing them to the people he loved.As much as Phil loved Japan, his favorite place in the world was Lake George in the Adirondacks of northern New York, followed closely by Walt Disney World. Throughout his life, he spent nearly every summer at a cottage on the shores of Lake George. He called it “Another World” for its serenity and beauty. When the Dixons arrived, however, the neighbors had another name for it: “Camp Yell-A-Lot,” in recognition of the noise and activity that accompanied the family.Phil is survived by his wife, Anne; his siblings, Hal and Priscilla; his children, Douglas (Stephanie), David (Pia), Daniel (Tülay), Diane (Jonathan), and Devin (Megan); and 11 grandchildren.A memorial service will be held on Saturday, October 24, 2026, at 10:00 AM at the meetinghouse at 1100 Gray Fox Ln., Franklin, TN 37069 of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . His ashes will be interred at Mountain Grove Church in Huletts Landing, Lake George, New York.