HORACE L. DICKERSON, JR.

FEBRUARY 13, 1941 — AUGUST 9, 2026

On August 9, 2026, former Social Security Administration Regional Commissioner, Businessman, and Civic Leader Horace Livingston Dickerson, Jr. departed his extraordinary life on this earth. Horace was one of nine children born to the late Horace Livingston Dickerson, Sr. and the late Amy Green Dickerson. He was born in rural Gloster (De Soto Parish), Louisiana, on February 13, 1941. He accepted Christ at an early age and was baptized under the leadership of Reverend William Tyler at New Bethlehem Baptist Church. After graduating from Second Ward High School, he attended Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Secondary Education with a concentration in Mathematics. n 1964, Horace married his lifelong partner and love, Delores Jean Adams. Two sons were born from that union, Horace Livingston Dickerson III and Theron Chadwick Dickerson.

Horace served faithfully in the United States Army and was honorably discharged. Following his active-duty military service, he started a career in education as a mathematics teacher. He completed four years of service with Caddo Parish Schools before embarking upon a different professional career path.

In 1971, he was recruited by the Social Security Administration (SSA) and assigned as a Social Insurance Representative in Hollywood, California. While working in Southern California, he held various positions, including Field Service Representative, Operations Supervisor, Branch Office Manager, and District Manager. After transferring to SSA Headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1980, he was assigned to various senior-level leadership positions, including Executive Assistant to the SSA Deputy Commissioner and, later, Director of SSA’s Office of Disability Operations.

In 1990, He was appointed to the Senior Executive Service of the United States of America and named Deputy Regional Commissioner of SSA’s Philadelphia region. He later returned to SSA Headquarters to lead SSA’s Office of Central Records Operations, an agency component with over 6,000 employees. He was responsible for establishing and maintaining more than 200 million earnings records, which supported all Social Security programs.

While serving in this position, he led the complete overhaul of SSA’s earnings process. Because of his visionary leadership and through the use of computer technology, the agency was able to streamline work processes and handle workloads much more efficiently. He directed the successful migration of SSA’s earnings records operation from a manual, labor-intensive, batch processing operation to a highly automated process. The Earnings Adjustments process, which previously required 6 months to complete, was streamlined to allow completion in eight hours. Because of his efforts, the SSA Commissioner bestowed upon him the agency’s highest recognition and President Bill Clinton recognized him with the Presidential Rank Award as a Meritorious Executive in the Senior Executive Service.

Horace spent the last nine years of his illustrious 34-year SSA career as Regional Commissioner for the Dallas Region. In addition, during two years of this time frame, he served in a dual capacity as Regional Commissioner for the Denver Region. In this role, he was responsible for more than 5,000 employees in 210 local offices in 11 states, with over 6 million beneficiaries receiving in excess of $49 billion annually in benefits.

In addition to honors and recognition at the Senior Executive Service level, he was recognized with the rank of Distinguished Executive in the Senior Executive Service. This honor was conferred upon him by President Bill Clinton in recognition of “Sustained Extraordinary Accomplishments in Management of Programs of the United States Government and for Exemplifying the Highest Standards of Service to the Public. Horace was also cited by President George W. Bush with the Presidential Meritorious Executive Award. He was inducted as a fellow into the National Academy of Public Administration, and in 2001, he was inducted as a fellow in the National Academy of Social Insurance.

Always a proponent of education, training, and development, he pursued graduate-level studies at the University of California at Los Angeles and studied Public Administration at Pepperdine University. He received certificates of completion in Management and Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, and the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, Virginia. He was a 1992 Graduate of the Federal Executive Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia.

An ordained deacon in the Baptist church, he leaves behind a legacy of being, first and foremost, a remarkable husband, father, and grandfather, a successful visionary leader, and a man of unrivaled perseverance and principle. Horace was a man of goodwill and great humility. He adhered closely to the requirements expressed in Micah 6:8--do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy god. Constant in his loving, universal in his caring, and faithful to his God, this was the measure of the man.

Horace was preceded in death by his parents, Horace Livingston Dickerson, Sr. and Amy Green Dickerson; his sisters, Clementine Brooks and Dorothy Jean Dickerson; and his brother, Dwight David Dickerson.

Horace will be eternally loved, remembered, and appreciated in the hearts and minds of many, including his wife of 62 years, Delores Jean Adams Dickerson; his sons, Horace L. Dickerson III and Theron C. Dickerson; his grandson, Devon E. Dickerson; his daughter-in-law, Adrienne P. Byrd; his sisters — Annie Williams, Lorita Brooks (Louis), Alma Griffin, Clare Allen (Billy), Linda Lamar (Louis), and Cassandra McCoy (Curtis); and a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives, and friends.