Fitz Eugene Dixon Jr.

Fitz Eugene Dixon Jr. (August 14, 1923 – August 2, 2006) was an American educator, sportsman, and philanthropist. Early life He was the son of banker Fitz Eugene Dixon Sr. and Eleanor Widener (1891-1966), a member of the wealthy Widener family from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Dixons built "Ronaele Manor" ("Eleanor" spelled backward), an Elizabethan mansion, in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, where Fitz Jr. grew up. Fitz Jr. graduated from Philadelphia's Episcopal Academy, then Harvard University, after which he returned to Episcopal to teach English, French, and Health; he also coached the school's squash, tennis, and 120-pound football teams and served as director of athletics and assistant to the headmaster. Career In 1971, on the death of his mother's childless surviving brother George Dunton Widener Jr., Fitz Jr. inherited his uncle's entire estate, including the Erdenheim Farm in Whitemarsh Township, Pennsylvania, and took over the running of the Widener Foundation. The Widener fortune, amassed in the meat-packing and streetcar businesses, saw Fitz Eugene Dixon Jr. listed in Forbes Magazine's 400 Richest Americans in 1985, 1991, and 1995.