Former Allegheny County Health Director Bruce Dixon Dies

Dr. Bruce Dixon, the former Allegheny County Health Department head, died overnight at UPMC Presbyterian, the Post-Gazette reports.

The county medical examiner's office said Dixon, 74, a Forest Hills resident, died of a blood infection caused by an inflammation of his gallbladder. He was ousted from his job in March 2012 by the county Board of Health, acting at the request of Allegheny County Chief Executive Rich Fitzgerald, according to the Post-Gazette.

“For over 20 years, Dr. Bruce Dixon was the ultimate public servant, dedicating his life to serving the needs of the residents of Allegheny County through his direction of the Allegheny County Health Department," Fitzgerald said in a statement issued this morning.

"The time and dedication he committed to the department during his tenure was extensive. While we differed in how the health department should move forward, the service he provided was admired and will not be forgotten soon.”

Dixon became a consultant to the health department in 1979 before he was hired in 1992 by the county, WTAE-TV reports.

Locally, Dixon is also known as the owner of the historic Schwab mansion, next to Fairless Elementary School in North Braddock, which he bought in 1984 and worked on restoring in the years since. The mansion, designed by noted architect Fredrick Osterling, was home to Charles M. Schwab, the one-time president of the Carnegie Steel Co., who, in 1901, helped negotiate the secret sale of Carnegie Steel to a group of New York–based financiers led by J. P. Morgan.

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