April 24, 1938 – November 18, 2024

Dixie Rue Alligood was born on 24 April 1938 in Durham, North Carolina, the daughter of John Clarence Alligood of Washington, North Carolina, and Margaret Mozelle Ferrell of Durham. She had an older brother, Hugh Ellis Alligood and a younger sister, Bobbie Alligood. When she was three years old, her family moved to Newport News, Virginia, where her father worked as a tool clerk for the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company building “Liberty ships” during World War Two. When they were young, Dixie and her older brother Hugh spent summers harvesting tobacco on the Alligood family farm in Washington, North Carolina. As a teenager, she started her long history of service by playing the piano and singing in a girl’s trio at Riverside Baptist Church in Newport News. She also worked at Rose’s dime store for 50 cents an hour and was disappointed when her father told her she needed to tithe her money. She graduated from Warwick High School in 1956.

Dixie wanted to become a teacher and received a scholarship from Riverside Church to attend Carson Newman College, a Baptist school in Tennessee. In 1957, she was awarded a Virginia teaching scholarship and transferred to Madison College (today James Madison University) in Harrisonburg. In 1960, she went home during spring break of her senior year and attended church. A young man who worked for NASA at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Virginia walked over to her pew and asked if anyone was sitting in the space next to her. She said “no,” so he sat down. That man was Kenneth Leneave Suit, and although they both left the service without being introduced, he remembers thinking, “what if I marry this girl?” Dixie went on to graduate in 1960 with a degree in education and became a second-grade teacher in Hampton, Virginia, not far from her childhood home. Through a mutual friend at Riverside church, Dixie officially met Kenneth for a blind date at a restaurant in Williamsburg followed by an organ recital at Bruton Parish Church. They were engaged in December 1961 and married on 7 July 1962 at Riverside Baptist Church. Dixie always believed that God had brought them together.

After they married, Dixie moved to Houston, where Kenneth had been working at NASA’s Manned Spacecraft Center. She taught third grade at Garfield Elementary School and became certified in the Montessori method of teaching. In 1964, they built a home in Friendswood, Texas and became active members of First Baptist Church of Friendswood, where Dixie played the piano for the Sunday morning service, Sunday evening service, Wednesday evening service, adult choir, children’s choir, and youth choir.

Kenneth and Dixie had two children after they moved to Friendswood. Kenneth (“Kenny”) Leneave Suit, Jr. was born in 1965, and Alisa Michelle Suit was born in 1967. In 1975, Dixie and her friends Carolyn Benson and Lorna Zeitler decided to open their own preschool and kindergarten, so they built and operated Friendswood Children’s House for nearly 25 years. Dixie was always proud of that accomplishment as well as the fact that the school continues to teach children in Friendswood to this day.

Music and her faith were vital parts of Dixie’s life. Since she learned to play the piano at a young age, this talent became one of the great joys of her life and a gift she loved to share with others. Most importantly, it was the way she served and worshipped God. She served as the church pianist at every church she joined, from Riverside Baptist Church as a teenager, to First Baptist Church Friendswood in her adult years. She continued to play piano at home until just a few weeks before she went to be with the Lord. Now she can enjoy using her musical talents in the immediate presence of the God she faithfully served during her life on Earth.

Dixie’s family battled cancer for many years. Cancer took her father at 52, her mother at 62, and her brother at 17. Dixie herself was diagnosed with her brain tumor in 2003 and fiercely battled it until 18 November 2024 when, at the age of 86, Dixie passed from this life into eternal life and complete healing. She is now also with one of her grandchildren, Kenneth Leneave Suit III, who was stillborn in 2006.

Dixie is survived by Kenneth, her husband of 62 years. She is also survived by her son Kenny Suit and his wife Natalia Kasprzak Suit, their children Aniela Kinser and her husband Charles Kinser, Alicja Suit, and Karsten Suit, all from Johnson City, Tennessee. Dixie's daughter Alisa Jacks and her husband Dan Jacks also survive her, as well as their children Alaina Jacks of Kingwood, Texas and Caia Jacks of Dallas, Texas. To her grandchildren, Dixie was known as “Grammy.” Dixie is also survived by her younger sister, Bobbie Woods, and her children Robin Purvis and Michael Woods. Dixie's sister-in-law Kitty Shealy and her son Michael also survive her.  

Friends and family are cordially invited to the visitation with the family on Saturday, December 14, 2024 at 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM followed by the memorial service at 11:00 AM at First Baptist Church, 111 East Heritage, Friendswood, Texas 77546.

Condolences may be sent to the family in care of Jeter Funeral Home https://jeterfuneralhome.com.