Arthur Leon Dickey, affectionately known as Sonnie, was born on May 11, 1945, in Newport News, Virginia, to the late John Arthur Dickey and Ceola White-Dickey. When Sonnie was 7 years old, his mother was tragically killed in an automobile accident. His father would later marry Zenobia Mitchell. Sonnie was the eldest of seven siblings.
Sonnie received most of his formal education with the San Diego Unified Schools District, first attending Logan Elementary and then Balboa Elementary. He briefly lived in Maryland and Florida before returning to San Diego, where Sonnie attended Memorial Jr High School and San Diego High School. Sonnie was quite athletic and was an avid sports fan.
As a child living in Florida, Sonnie participated in Boy Scouts. He showed the first signs of his entrepreneurial spirit when he and his brother started a lawn cutting business. As a teenager, he learned the plumbing trade from an uncle and eventually started his own plumbing business. Towards the end of his career Sonnie worked for Bill Howe Plumbing. Sonnie enjoyed teaching and after retirement he taught formerly incarcerated young men plumbing skills through the 2nd Chance Program.
Sonnie was loved by all who knew him. He always had a word of encouragement for others. He gave great advice and was a mentor to many of his nephews, taking them on plumbing jobs where he taught them skills, letting them earn some money.
Sonnie loved and cherished his family. He married Thelma Hollins in 1966, and from this union produced two daughters, Neema and Necol. Sonnie and Thelma later divorced. Later in life Sonnie reconnected with Claudia Wilkes, and he moved to Los Angeles. They married on June 27, 2009.
God called Sonnie home on May 3, 2025.
He was preceded in death by his grandson Mikil Shabazz, and brothers; David Dickey and Fred Dickey.
He leaves to cherish his memory his devoted wife Claudia Dickey, daughters; Neema Black (Tommy) and Necol Shabazz (Luvly), stepdaughter Wendy Hendrick (Jeffrey), granddaughter Meka Shabazz, grandsons; Malkolm Shabazz, Tarifa El-Henson, and Mashida Shabazz (Maria), step-grandsons; Jeffrey Hendrick II and Ronald Hendrick, great-granddaughters; Zhuri Cruz and Kayla Taylor, brothers; Jerome Dickey Sr. (Honey) and R. Norman Dickey (Diane), sisters; Marie Dickey, Cynthia Witcher (Calvin) and Jean Dickey, sister-in-law Rosalind Dickey, and a host of nephews, nieces, and extended family and friends who will miss him and treasure his memory forever.
