Paul Dimmick: A Friend Of The Library

Paul Dimmick (on the left, back row) with some of his Friends.

The Lakewood Public Library mourns the passing of Paul Dimmick, a highly-respected member of the Library’s Board of Trustees and a tireless volunteer for the Friends of Lakewood Public Library. He will be deeply missed by friends and family, by the Boy Scouts of Troop 81, by his fellow Kiwanians and Trustees, by the volunteers who followed his example and by the staff of the Library who regarded him as a permanent fixture around the place—always smiling and often joking and constantly on the lookout for what challenge he could face next. He will not be soon forgotten.

We feel strongly that, as the years roll by, many more will come to miss him—those who never knew his name or had the chance to meet him in this life. He gave the Library and his community a level of service that we can only marvel at. The Library, of course, will carry on and even prosper, but Mr. Dimmick cannot be replaced. He did the work of twenty men—even into his eighties—and he did it with a twinkle in his eye that let you know nothing could stop him. He volunteered with his own two hands and, with the Friends, raised tens of thousands of dollars for children’s programs, Sunday concerts, Saturday night movies and countless other things that libraries need to get through the day.

Mr. Dimmick’s second term on the Lakewood Public Library’s Board had not yet expired when he passed away on October 1. Whoever steps up to serve in his place will have big shoes to fill—but it can be done. Those interested in serving should direct a letter of interest and qualifications to the Superintendent of Schools by November 15, 2013. Visit lakewoodpubliclibrary.org for more details.

Mary Louise Nixon, Mr. Dimmick’s longtime colleague on the Board of Trustees said, “Paul had a wonderful sense of what a library needed. During the renovation of Main Library, he paid careful attention to the plans and asked question after question. ‘Can we move this here? Can we move that there?’ He created new spaces out of nothing and gave the Library extra room to grow. He had a vision to maintain the traditional while keeping us moving into the future.”

Thank you, Lakewood. Your continued enjoyment of the Library is a most fitting legacy for our friend.