Opal M. Dice 1943-2023
CAMERON - Opal Marie Dice, 79, passed away January 13, 2023.
Opal (Collier) Dice was a survivor. She was raised in a broken home with no father in her life and suffered abuse. She had a whole lot stacked against her in the early years, but she is truly an example of how a person can completely change when they meet Jesus, no matter what their story is.
Opal was named the Best Girl Athlete at Cameron High School, class of 1962.
She met and married Jerry Dice right out of High School. They struggled in the early years. When Jerry became a Christian, she did not right away. It was several years later when she had her own conversion and life change. She wanted to find God for herself, and she did. When that happened, both began to grow in their faith and their marriage became stronger. It changed everything!
Jerry and Opal enjoyed a life-long love! This month, they would have celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. For decades, Opal was known to have made the bold statement that “When it’s time to die, Jerry and I are going to go together!”
As a Pastors wife, and Co-Pastor with Jerry, she served people in three different churches, Full Faith Fellowship (Cameron MO), House of Praise (Indianola IA), and Cheyenne Christian Center (Cheyenne WY). Additionally, she and Jerry helped teens who were struggling, counseled and mentored hundreds of couples to help save marriages, preached and taught the Bible wherever and whenever they had the chance, led prison ministry, and even nursing home ministry, too. Opal even once led a lady to the Lord who was known as the “meanest woman in town.”
She was the ultimate encourager! If you ever attended a Youth for Christ club in Cameron, you will remember Opal shouting out “Let’s have an attitude check???” And she was always hoping for the response “Praise the Lord!” Her children and grandchildren always knew they could call Grandma anytime to be encouraged. She always made family a priority If she visited your home, she would complement your décor, and rave about how “amazing everything looks” even if you owned all second hand and thrift store furnishings. She meant it, too. In her senior years, she sent daily “verse of the day” text messages to all of her children and grandchildren.
Opal was selfless. She was known by her loud laugh and un-ending joy!
In her last few years, the couple retired and moved back to Cameron. They looked forward to traveling and being closer to family, but shockingly, Opal began to show signs of dementia. Jerry was faithfully by her side to the very end, caring for her as the disease progressed more and more. Eventually, the outgoing Pastors wife, loving mother, and grandmother became timid, anxious, and unable to articulate her thoughts. Dementia is cruel. Later, Opal became convinced that her husband had actually died and this guy (Jerry) wasn’t her husband, but just a nice man. Jerry went with it. He wanted her to be at peace. But, in January 2022, Jerry came up with the idea to ask Opal to marry him again (In her mind, it was to be her second marriage), and the children, Faron, Kitty, and Gary put on the wedding ceremony in their home! It was a glorious day, and even though she couldn’t say many words, she said, “I do!”
On December 21, 2022, her husband, Jerry Dice, unexpectedly passed away taking care of her. Opal’s physical health declined rapidly almost immediately, and three weeks later, on January 13, 2023, she passed, too. She did not want to be here on earth without him.
Survivors: sons, Faron (Crystal) Dice, Colorado Springs, Colorado, Gary (Shelly) Dice, Cameron, Missouri, and daughter, Kitty Sutton, Cameron, Missouri; 12 grandchildren, Derrek (Kelly) Sutton, Jesse (Sarah) Sutton, Danyelle Sutton, Mandi (Taylor) Ford, Alli (Anthony) Daemke, Chase (Briona) Dice, Mylon (Kaela Mae) Dice, Gabe McKnight, Arial Dice, Medeya Granado, Margaret Dice, and Peyton Dice;11 great-grandchildren; and brother, Larry (Bev) Collier, Houston, Texas.
Services were held at 2:00 PM, Monday, January 16, 2023 at Poland-Thompson Chapel, with burial at Christian Chapel Cemetery.
Memorial Fund: Comfort Care Hospice
Online condolences: www.polandthompson.com
Arrangements by Poland-Thompson Funeral Home, Cameron, MO.
