Her heart is forever in Modesto. Now, she’s the American Legion’s Citizen of the Year

Lynn Dickerson still considers herself somewhat of a newcomer to the Modesto area, but it’s definitely where she wants to live. She works hard to improve the community, and she’s being recognized for her effort.

Her career in newspapers first brought her to Modesto about 17 years ago, and a promotion several years later prompted her move away. But she chose in 2009 to return to Modesto, a place where she could restart her life and career after the sudden loss of her youngest son, Ryan, 18, when he died in a swimming-related accident in 2007.

“I don’t consider myself a native, I’m more of a transplant,” she said. “I’ve been able to bloom where I was planted.”

On Wednesday evening, American Legion Post 74 in Modesto will honor Dickerson as its Citizen of the Year with a ceremony and a dinner. Dickerson is the chief executive officer at the Gallo Center for the Arts, where she’s worked since 2009 stabilizing its finances, expanding its audience and programming and helping to establish it as a cultural hub in downtown Modesto.

With the death of her son, Dickerson says she saw her life in shades of black and gray. She didn’t expect to feel joy or have fun again. But that changed when she took on the challenge of running the Gallo Center for the Arts.

“It has been a gift from God,” she said about her job. “It really became like color came back into my life.”

Al Menshew, chairman of the American Legion committee that selected Dickerson, said she is the latest in an elite group of citizens who have been recognized for their extensive community work since the honor was first given in 1949.

“She’s quite an active lady in our community,” Menshew said about Dickerson. “That in itself and so many things she’s involved with make her a natural choice.”

Dickerson is an active member of several community boards, including the Stewardship Council over the county’s Focus on Prevention initiative, which is trying to reduce homelessness. She’s the former president of the Modesto Rotary Club, serves on boards for the Stanislaus Community Foundation, Opportunity Stanislaus, the Great Valley Center American Leadership Forum and the Downtown Modesto Partnership, among several others.

She first moved to Modesto in 2000 to work as the publisher for The Modesto Bee. In 2006, McClatchy named her vice president of operations with oversight for a third of the company’s newspapers.

Following a corporate restructuring, Dickerson returned to Modesto in 2009 to run the Gallo Center for the Arts. She said the center’s ticket sales have grown, along with its customer base with expansions like its performances for Latino audiences. The center also has hosted more than 39,000 students on field trips as part of its educational programming.

Dickerson also is really proud of her family’s work in raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Her husband, Ron, in 2015, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He completed chemotherapy treatment in June 2016 and has been cancer-free for about a year.

He continues an active life, including riding a bike for a 1,000 miles to train for America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride, a fund-raising race for for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. His wife trained with him, joining him in the race as part of “Team RonStrong.”

As a team, Dickerson said they raised $274,000 – the largest amount nationwide for the fund-raising effort that gathered $3 million. Her husband also pushed her to reach a goal raising enough money individually to be ranked sixth among the participants. Achieving that ranking would guarantee she would wear the No. 6 racing bib during the event.

Her son, Ryan, used to use the No. 6 on his water polo team. Dickerson initially found this goal daunting. “I thought it was crazy, no way we’re going to be able to do that,” she said.

But she did it, raising $33,700 individually, good for sixth place. And she got wear the No. 6 bib in the bicycle race.

She plans on continuing her work in helping improve the Modesto area, and she’s grateful the American Legion is recognizing her effort.

“I feel humbled and honored to receive it,” Dickerson said about the Citizen of the Year award. “A lot of great people have received this before me.”

Rosalio Ahumada: 209-578-2394

This story was originally published August 7, 2017 at 3:47 PM with the headline "Her heart is forever in Modesto. Now, she’s the American Legion’s Citizen of the Year."