Matthew Dickson Memorial Scholarship

Matthew Dickson Memorial Scholarship

June 11, 1981-March 25, 2021

Matthew “Matt” Paul Dickson was a husband, son, brother, uncle, grandson, son-in-law, and Purple Heart-honored Marine veteran. He was all of these things and also so very much more. He was a crazy good dancer, a lover of a good scotch, and was aggressively competitive at all sports and games. He had the greatest smile and, based on his own judgement, an award-winning beard. If you were loved by Matt, you would find no greater champion.

Matt married Brittany Scotto on October 8, 2016, in Kansas City. He loved his wife, Britt. She was his person and the life they built together was uniquely theirs: beautiful, funny, spontaneous and wonderful. She was his light and his life.

He loved his parents Mike and Leslie. He got his sense of duty and commitment to family, community and country from them. Having their love meant the world to him.

He loved his siblings by birth (Michelle and Brett) and his siblings by marriage (Lee and Brittany). As the oldest, it was his job to both protect and annoy them, and he took both seriously. He saw being a brother as a privilege.

He loved his nieces and nephew, and all of his friends’ children who also called him Uncle Matt. While he planned on being a dad, he already excelled at being an uncle. Being Uncle Matt let his sense of humor and silliness shine, and he was so proud of Ellie, Kaylie, Claire and Carter.

Matt was a three-sport letterman on the varsity soccer, basketball and baseball teams at Glenwood High School, graduating in 2000. He attended the University of Illinois in Champaign and Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He was a US Marine and served two tours of duty in Iraq (2003 and 2004). Matt was a director at a digital marketing agency in Kansas City.

He loved his friends. While too numerous to list here, his friends were so important to him. Whether it was with his Marine brothers-in-arms, in the backyard around a fire pit, at a musical festival, playing golf, or just hanging out in the driveway with a few beers, he thrived being in the middle of the fray. His friends fed his soul.

He loved his dogs, Wrigley and Ivy. They were his companions, his playmates, his partners in crime.

Matt was beloved by an army of friends, family and coworkers who will miss his insane wit, his belly laugh, his intense sense of humor, his cooking, and his solid IPA recommendations. There is no greater privilege to have known him and no greater tragedy to have lost him.

To continue Matthew Dickson’s legacy of service, leadership, laughter, hope and strength, his parents, Mike and Leslie have established a scholarship and award endowment for students attending Lincoln Land Community College.

ELIGIBILITY
1. Minimum GPA of 2.5 on a 4.0 scale
2. Enrolled in any program of study
3. Available for a first-time or continuing college student
4. Enrolled in a minimum of 6 credit hours
5. Preference given to a United States Veteran and Chatham Glenwood High School graduate