WASHINGTON, D.C. — Robert Dixon, founder of Dixon’s Termite & Pest Management and an industry veteran of 40-plus years, died on Sept. 24. He was 65.

Like many in the pest management industry, Dixon got started by answering a help-wanted ad in the paper. The year was 1963 and he was looking for a job when he saw an ad for the American Disinfectant Company. He landed the entry level, service technician job and instantly loved his work.

Dixon eventually left American Disinfectant and in 1978 founded Dixon’s Termite & Pest Management. The company would become a family affair with the addition of wife Ann and son Anthony, vice president.

In addition to running his business, Dixon was active in the community and well-known by Washington, D.C. politicians and business leaders.

“Mr. Dixon was a champion for pest management in Washington D.C., and for equality for everyone,” said friend and colleague Cleveland Dixon, president of Holiday Termite & Pest Control, Springfield, Va.

Dixon was a 2009 PCT/Syngenta Crown Leadership honoree. Gene Harrington, director of government affairs for the National Pest Management Association, was interviewed for the Leadership article and he noted that Dixon has taken the lead on almost any notable pest management-related issue that has arisen in Washington for the last 40 years. “To that end, Robert helped develop the initial D.C. pest control law and subsequent regulations in the 1970s," he said. "More recently, he lobbied the D.C. Council in 2008 to make sure a notification bill council members were working on was more workable for the pest management industry.”

Robert Dixon is survived by wife Ann and sons Byron and Anthony.