After St. Stephen man's death, grieving mother wants him remembered as father, friend

Sheila Dickerson remembers the day clearly.

It was in fall 2022, when she went for a bike ride with her son, Adam Dickerson.

"We spent all day together," she recalled. "We went in the woods, we had lunch together.

"We had a blast driving home, carrying on, being silly."

It was one of her last good memories with her son.

Adam, 41, died on Dec. 2, after he was found in need of immediate medical attention at a St. Stephen municipal park.

A few days after his death, the municipality declared a state of local emergency, which was called off by Public Safety Minister Kris Austin on Wednesday.

Sheila Dickerson said for those who knew Adam, he was called Buddy or Dickerson by his friends.

She said he loved his kids and his nieces, who miss him dearly.

She said Adam was an outdoorsy person who was skilled in the area of mechanics, and she wants people to know that he was a kind-hearted and thoughtful person, with lots of friends who cared for him.

Doug Harper also remembers Adam as kind hearted and always willing to "help you out when you needed it."

Harper, who is a local business owner in St. Stephen, knew Adam from childhood.

He said back when they were in school, there was the Milltown group, an area which is now part of the larger municipality, and the St. Stephen group, and the Milltown crew was known for being a little bit more rowdy and mischievous.

"We all stuck together," said Harper.

Doug Harper, Adam Dickerson's childhood friend, said they were both part of the 'Milltown crew.' (Graham Thompson/CBC)

He said he'd sometimes have arguments with his friend when they were growing up, but two days later, things would be back to normal.

Harper said although he hasn't hung out with Adam since high school, he said he'd occasionally seen him around and would always try to say hi and offer him a coffee.

Adam was a "good fella," he said, but fell on hard times with addiction and news of his death was heartbreaking.

"It's one thing for somebody to pass due to natural causes, but this could have been prevented, plain and simple."

Harper said there's a lot of division in the St. Stephen community over people who are homeless or struggling with addiction.

A covered bridge replica building is being used by some homeless people in St. Stephen to keep warm with tarps and a space heater. (Holly Johnson/Facebook)

But as someone who also has a brother with addiction issues, Harper said people need to stop fighting and come together to figure out a solution.

"There's got to be a reasonable solution that we all can agree on to find help for humans, not for drug addicts, not for homeless — these are human beings that matter."

Dickerson agrees. She said there's no need for anyone to look down on homeless people, because they're humans all the same.

She said it shouldn't have taken her son dying for something to happen.

"They are a somebody as well," she said. "We all make mistakes."

Dickerson, who lives in St. George now, said she remembers the last day she saw her son. It was in July, and she gave him a ride to St. Stephen where he was going to try to find a place to stay.

She said she doesn't have a phone so there was no way for Adam to contact her, and her landlord wouldn't allow him to stay with her anymore. But he told her that if she ever needed to find him, to look behind the mall.

She said she gave him a hug and told him she loved him "to pieces."

Community members in St. Stephen have organized a vigil for Friday evening, and Dickerson said she is planning to attend as long as "I can keep my feet underneath me."

"If I have to, they can put me in a wheelchair and wheel me right in front of it. That's for my son.

"Yes, I'm going to be there."