Service Details

Viewing from 2:00pm to 8:00pm
2140 N Fulton Ave
Baltimore, MD 21217

Funeral Company

Josesph H Brown, Jr. Funeral Home

The Story

Carlton Michael Dix was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on September 25, 1953. His parents, Carl Sr. and Bertha Dix, were long time Baltimore residents who raised 4 children of which Michael was the youngest Michael passed away on January 31, 2016.

Michael attended Forest Park Senior High School where he excelled in lacrosse. He didn't complete high school at Forest Park, but he received his GED from Calverton. As a young man, Michael had an enthusiasm for cars. While still a teenager, Mike took a car apart and put it back together. He had 3 parts left over because he couldn't figure out where to put them, but that car ran better than ever after he had put it back together. Mike could almost always breathe life into a car that seemed to be dead and make it possible to drive it again.

For most of his life, Mike was a hard worker, somebody who had a regular job and 2 or 3 side hustles. He worked at the Sparrows Point steel mill for more than 20 years, and during the many layoffs he endured over those years, he junked houses, delivered newspapers, worked at car repair shops, and tried his hand at DJ'ing; anything to keep busy and get by.

John Wesley, a co-founder of the Methodist Church, once said: “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, at all the times you can, in all the places you can.” I'm pretty sure Michael didn't study this religious leader's writings. I doubt that he ever even read this quote, but he did act on it throughout his life.

Michael made a point of helping people. If somebody needed a ride, they could get it from Mike. If they needed some money or something else, Mike would let them have it. If Mike had it, he'd share it with you. If you needed a place to stay, Mike would let you have a room in his house for as long as you needed it. Michael also donated to a number of charities, helping, among others, disabled veterans, and Native American Children.

Eight years ago, Michael suffered a stroke that left him unable to work as he had before or even to repair cars, but he still helped everybody he could. And if you asked him how he felt or how things were going, you knew his response would be, “I'm alright,” even if he wasn't doing so well.

Michael's parents preceded him in passing. He is survived by two sisters, Joyce Mitchell and Joanne Bailey, and a brother, Carl Dix Jr.; a son, Michael Polite, and a daughter, Carla Dix; three grandchildren: Marcel Michael Polite, Myah Marie Polite, and Mason Marquise Polite; nieces and nephews: LeNae Nelson, Andrea Woodson, Anne Mitchell, Carl Mitchell, Claudia Robeson, Berkley Pettigen, and William Bailey.

-Written by Carl Dix Jr.