(1927-2013)
Longtime Solvang resident Claude William Dickinson passed away Sunday, February 10, 2013, in a Santa Maria hospice, after a long illness. He was 85. Claude was born in Folkestone, Kent, England, in 1927, the son of a constable and housewife. He spent two years in the Royal Air Force and then attended London University, graduating in 1950.
Claude was a chartered accountant for Shell Oil Company for many years, working in the UK, Nigeria and the Philippines. He moved to Hollywood in 1968, and did similar work for Capitol Records. Claude moved to Lake Arrowhead in 1972, where he met Elizabeth Van Name Drews, and sold real estate for 18 years. They married in 1991 in Ballard, and settled in Solvang. In addition to wife Elizabeth, Claude leaves sons Scott, Kent and Blake from a previous marriage, and seven grandchildren. He also leaves stepsons Al, Peter and Robert Esser, step-daughter Rebecca Dominguez, and eight step-grandchildren. No funeral services are planned.
