Mr. Dixon, who lived at Erdenheim Farm, a 500-acre estate near Whitemarsh, was a civic jack-of-all-trades who touched countless institutions.
"You remember Citizen Kane?" Gov. Rendell said yesterday. "Fitz would have been Citizen Dixon. He was a man of great material possessions who devoted virtually all of his time to helping others. . . . He could have lived the life of a true ne'er-do-well, but he was so generous."
Mr. Dixon was a member and former chairman of the Art Commission, the Fairmount Park Commission, and the Delaware River Port Authority. In addition to ownership of the Sixers, he once had shares of the Phillies, the Eagles and the Flyers, and 100 percent ownership of the now-defunct Wings, a professional lacrosse team.
Over the years, Mr. Dixon raised millions for a variety of causes, including the Police Athletic League and Abington Memorial Hospital, and was head of the trustees at Widener and Temple Universities.
Mr. Dixon loved horse racing, and owned stables of racehorses, as well as champion show-jumpers and dressage horses. He was chairman of the State System of Higher Education from 1983 through 2002, and served on the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission for years.
"Fitz was a true gentleman and a very classy person," said Bill Giles, chairman of the Phillies. "He loved all the Philadelphia sports teams. He was a big help when I was putting a group together to buy the team in 1981. . . . He was one of the first to join the group as a limited partner."
Relatives and friends said Mr. Dixon had battled cancer for about a year. He died at Abington Memorial.
In honor of Mr. Dixon, Rendell ordered flags to be flown at half-staff at state facilities in the five-county Philadelphia region and at the Capitol in Harrisburg.
The governor had asked Mr. Dixon to come back as chairman of the state Horse Racing Commission in 2003, after having been a member of the body from 1986 through 1997.
