W.M. “Dick” Dickey Jr., a career banker who served in Georgia’s state House and on the Macon City Council, died Sunday after a long illness. He was 81.
A staunch Republican in an era when Democrats ruled state politics, Dickey served one term in the state House of Representatives in the early 1970s and two decades later was elected to the Macon City Council, serving from 1991-2003.
“He was a great guy who was really good to me,” said Dickey’s nephew, state Rep. Robert Dickey, R-Musella. “He gave me good advice when I got elected and told me I’d have to do a lot of lifting those first few years … and that it’s all about relationships up there” in Atlanta.
In 1972, Dickey beat Jack Chiles for a seat in the state House, but he didn’t seek re-election because at the time, he was busy helping run Macon Bank and Trust Co. Dickey was the bank’s first president.
Dickey sought a House seat again in 1976 but lost to Democrat Frank Horne.
During the rest of the decade and throughout the 1980s, Dickey remained a devoted member of the Bibb County Republican Party. But it wasn’t until 1991 that he was elected to a City Council seat.
“He prided himself in being a Republican,” said longtime City Councilman Ed DeFore, who now serves on the Macon-Bibb County Commission. “He worked closely with independents and Democrats on the City Council, but he really loved his party.”
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