Dixie van de Flier Davis was born the youngest of four sisters in a rural town in Indiana. Her loving upbringing and close bond with her parents and sisters would guide her life to come. Her youth, during which she lived in Indiana, Kenya and Vancouver (WA), taught her that a loving, supportive family standing firmly behind you is the key to a happy, successful life.

She took the lessons from her family with her when she went to college at George Fox University and CU Denver to obtain a Bachelor’s degree in Social work and a Master’s degree in Education and finally obtained an Ed.D. in psychology from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley.

Just learning about how to help people wasn’t enough for Dixie. She had a fire in her, wanting to provide every child with the love and support she had experienced in her youth.

As a social worker she noticed how hard it was to get children in foster care adopted to permanent, loving families. Ever the optimist she decided to do something about it and founded The Adoption Exchange to facilitate better possibilities for the (special needs and older) children who needed a loving family to call their own the very most. She helped found the AEA and NAA, all organizations founded in the belief that every child deserves love, and working hard to make that possible.

Her drive and big heart, her strength, compassion, love and tenacity helped find many thousands of kids permanent homes and families. She was presented with many awards for her tireless work for the children who needed it most, though the knowledge that the lives of these children had permanently changed for the better, was her greatest reward.

Dixie cared about everybody and was a firm believer in peaceful solutions. She had a loving, kind word for everybody she met, from impoverished single mothers to American presidents and everybody in between.

Willing to always help everybody, everywhere, she spent time in Romanian orphanages, but also showed visiting international sports teams around Denver. This is how she met the love of her life, Bert, and gained two stepchildren and later a granddaughter who she loved and cherished the rest of her life.

Dixie leaves a legacy of tens of thousands of people whose lives she has touched in one way or another and will be sorely missed by everyone. The memories are plentiful, but never enough, she’s gone, but will never be forgotten.