For more than 20 years, Valerie Dixon was a fixture in Pittsburgh’s fight against gun violence.
Whether comforting victims and their loved ones in the Allegheny County Courthouse, lobbying politicians in the City-County Building, or doing outreach on Pittsburgh’s streets, it was Dixon’s life’s work — but not a job she asked for.
“When her son was killed, God gave her a purpose,” said Maurita Bryant, a former Pittsburgh police assistant chief. “She was all about helping others so they didn’t feel the same pain that she did.”
Dixon, of East Liberty, died on Monday at UPMC Presbyterian following a years-long battle with kidney disease.
She was 63.
Her life changed when her son, Robby, was shot and killed on June 25, 2001. He was 22.
In her earlier life, Dixon, who grew up in the Hill District, served as a plumber and later worked with customers for Automated Health Systems and UPMC.
But after Robby died, Dixon’s life turned to advocacy.
Jay Gilmer, the executive director for Operation Better Block, formerly served as the coordinator of the City of Pittsburgh’s Stop the Violence program. He knew Dixon in that capacity for more than 14 years and nominated her in 2013 to be an Urban Hero for her work — whether as an advocate, speaker, community organizer or outreach leader.
In an interview Dixon did with Urban Heroes, a program that honors Pittsburgh residents, she explained how she harnessed her grief in for her work.
“So in my mind, I had to focus on how I was going to live the rest of my life without my child,” she said. “How does anyone do that? How do you survive doing that?”
Dixon founded the PACT (Prevent Another Crime Today) Initiative, which helped bring law enforcement and grieving families together to solve crimes of gun violence. She decided to use billboards as part of the solution. The initiative partnered with advertising agencies and featured a photo of a victim of gun violence and then asked those in the community to come forward with information to help solve the crime.
Her work expanded from there.
Dixon began working for the Center for Victims and became its first director of family and community support, said Laurie MacDonald, the group’s president and CEO.
“Valerie was a true warrior and a champion for victims and families like none other,” MacDonald said. “Always beautiful, cheerful and smiling, her authenticity shined bright.”
Dixon worked with families in the immediate aftermath of violence, sometimes even going to crime scenes.
She counseled Moms of Murdered Children support groups and partnered with local funeral homes and 412 Food Bank to ensure crime victims’ families had clothing to properly bury their loved ones and food to celebrate them, MacDonald said.
She also worked with the Black Political Empowerment Project and NAACP Pittsburgh.
Rev. Glenn Grayson, the general manager for REACH, a violence prevention program in Pittsburgh, knew Dixon even before his own son was killed on Oct. 17, 2010.
“In your heaviest moment, she was the person who brought you strength, comfort and direction,” he said.
With Dixon, Grayson said, her connection with families was organic.
“She greeted you with a smile. She held your hand and helped guide you through your worst nightmare,” he said. “For some, it’s a job. But for her, it was her calling. She took tragedy and turned it to good.
“She was an inspiration.”
Even after Dixon became ill with kidney disease, she continued to use her connections and relationships to help, Grayson said.
“To the end, she never stopped working to support families who lost loved ones to gun violence,” he said. “It’s hard on the whole city. Her reach was broad.”
Bryant, who retired from the Pittsburgh police in 2016, worked with Dixon for years and met her during the billboard campaign.
Dixon, Bryant said, didn’t do things to ingratiate herself or to impress people; she acted from her heart.
She was one of the first in Pittsburgh to encourage the community to work with law enforcement, Bryant said, especially those who’d lost someone to gun violence.
And if the families didn’t trust the police — or were afraid of retaliation — they would pass information on to Dixon, who would share it herself.
“She would call me all the time when I was in charge of investigations,” Bryant said. “She got things done.”
Dixon was great at building relationships, she continued.
“She had those — from people living in the streets to politicians,” Bryant said. “She was someone you could trust. If you needed help, and she couldn’t do it herself, she’d know where to go.”
Dixon was also a peacemaker.
When there was dissension in the community or feuding groups, Bryant said she could turn to Dixon to try to calm the situation.
“If there’s nobody to step in her shoes, it will be a tragic loss,” Bryant said.
Dixon’s brother, Bill Dixon, of Highland Park, looked up to his little sister.
“To me, she was my hero,” he said.
In addition to her brother, Dixon is survived by her niece, Jennifer Dixon, of Garfield, and her great-niece, Sa’Bria Dixon.
Visitation will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. on Monday, with a funeral service at 11 a.m. on Tuesday at Wesley Center AME Zion Church at 2701 Centre Ave., Pittsburgh, 15219. Following the service, a repast will be held at Grayson Community Center, 1852 Enoch St., Pittsburgh, 15219.
Paula Reed Ward is a TribLive reporter covering federal and Allegheny County courts. She joined the Trib in 2019 after spending nearly 17 years at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, where she was part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team. She is the author of “Death by Cyanide.” She can be reached at pward@triblive.com.
