Amy Denise Dickey, 50, an English teacher at Coffee County Central High School in Manchester, passed away In Nashville, TN on 8/29/2023 following a brief, but difficult illness.  Amy was born on July 3, 1973 in Melbourne, Fla.  She attended Sabal Elementary, Johnson Jr. High, and Eau Gallie High School in Melbourne, but graduated from Coral Gables High School in Coral Gables, FL in 1991. She later graduated with honors, and with a double major in English and History from the University of Alabama in 1995.  Most of Amy’s career was dedicated to teaching.  She was a teacher at Rickards High School in Tallahassee, FL (1997-2000); at Melbourne High School in Melbourne, FL (2000-2009); at Great Oaks Charter School in New York City (2010-2019) where she was Teacher of the Year in 2018.  She has been at Coffee County Central High School since 2020. Paul Parsley, Principal at CCCHS, said, “Amy looked out for the best interest of her students and made certain that the students knew she cared about them.”  Amy’s closest colleague at CCCHS, Brad Jamison, added, “Amy had a quiet grace about her.  She always met others on common ground.  She could and would lay down the law, when necessary, though she did so patiently, with kindness in her heart. She never spoke ill of anyone.”  Amy was an avid reader.  On her Christmas list every year there were no less than 10-15 books, mostly fiction.  She loved traveling and spent 3 summers in Paris, her favorite European City.  And she loved dogs.  She always had rescue dogs and would usually adopt dogs that no one else wanted.  She once adopted a blind dog.  Amy’s Aunt Ava (Sinardi), remembers Amy “loving to have deep discussions about life and would always thank you for things you had done for her even years ago.”  Cousin Nicole Sinardi-Reynolds says that “Amy was an author.  She had a way with words, and words were what she loved. She absorbed herself in literature.  Well-read and educated, but never boastful.”  Amy is survived by a very large and loving family including her mother, Sherry Blain and her “bonus” father, Jim Blain; her father, Arden Dickey and her “bonus” mother, Donna Dickey; aunts Ava Sinardi and Maura Dickey, uncles Bill Dickey, Nick Sinardi, and Dan Hudson; brother Austin Blain, sisters Brittaney and Paige Sasser; great aunts Janie Robertson and Peggy Goodwin; and her loving first cousins, Nicole Reynolds, Krista Redding, Gary Dickey, Susan-Joyce Rosner, Brandi Rodriquez, Debbie Stribling and Reba Baird.  And again, from Nicole Sinardi-Reynolds, “She is gone too soon.  I know that’s true because there are so many of us aching to the core at a loss so great, we can hardly understand it.”  A celebration of her life was held in Manchester, on Sept. 7, from 1p.m. to 4 p.m. Formal services at 2:30 p.m. at Coffee County Funeral Chapel at 786 McMinnville Hwy. An additional service will be held in Melbourne, FL at a date to be announced later.  In lieu of flowers, Amy would have preferred that you make donations to ASPCA in her memory at https://secure.aspca.org.donate, or the Coffee County Humane Society.

 Coffee County Funeral Chapel is honored to serve the Dickey family.