Senior remembered after suicide earlier this month

May 15, 2007

She said she saw no sign that her son was suicidal before he was found dead in his apartment May 5, less than a month before he would graduate from Chico State with a degree in electrical engineering.

Joseph Dickerson loved electronics and building computers for his family and friends, Nina Dickerson said.

"He did his own thing his own way," she said. "He was very bright."

Joseph Dickerson grew up as a Camp Fire Boy and played percussion in his high school band in Danville. He was always willing to do volunteer work in the community and help his friends and family, Nina Dickerson said.

He was bullied in elementary school, she said. But the teasing stopped once he reached high school and found friends he could relate to.

Joseph Dickerson met friend Paul Lowe three years ago in a science course at Chico State.

"He was witty and lighthearted," Lowe said. "He has his own personal identity and was comfortable with it, unlike other people who change who they are to fit in."

Joseph Dickerson had his own sense of style and was proud of it, Lowe said. The Joseph he met in college was different from the one people knew in high school.

"Many people from his younger years knew him as the guy with long hair that was dyed blue or green," Lowe said. "We knew him as the guy with short, red hair, which was his normal color."

Lowe said Joseph Dickerson never had anything negative to say and had good manners.

Nina Dickerson said her son became interested in Frisbee golf, ballroom dancing and a computer game called "Dungeons & Dragons" while at Chico State.

Nina Dickerson said she knew her son was occasionally depressed and thought he was hiding a lot from her and his family.

She urges students to get help if they are feeling depressed.

"You're not crazy, you're not weird," she said. "There's just something that's not right with you, and you need someone to help you get better."

Lowe said he will miss Joseph's originality and companionship.

"He will always compose a major part of my college career," he said. "I'll always remember him."

Stacey Kennelly can be reached at skennelly@theorion.com

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See this article about one student's account of being suicidal:
• Suicidal student feels stranded

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