‘Exemplary’ Teen Dies of Cancer : Obituary: Brice Dickerson inspired many for earning Fountain Valley High diploma despite his illness.

FOUNTAIN VALLEY —  Brice Dickerson, whose quest for a high school diploma in the face of terminal brain cancer won the hearts of students and teachers at Fountain Valley High School, died Sunday. He was 18.

Dickerson died at home here after a nine-year battle with medulloblastoma, a form of brain cancer.

“He was an exemplary young man,” said Tom Antal, assistant principal at Fountain Valley High. “He was very much a model to a lot of kids. . . . He earned a diploma under conditions that many others would have given up.”

On Monday, flags at Fountain Valley High School flew at half staff. An announcement of Dickerson’s death was made over the school’s public address system and a tribute to the young man was given by a school dean.

“There was definitely a sadness around campus today,” Antal said. “There was a sense that this was a very significant event.”

Dickerson became an inspiration to many students and teachers at the school, not only because he was determined to earn a diploma in spite his illness, but also because he remained optimistic even though the cancer ravaged his body.

By the time of his death, Dickerson had become a quadriplegic. But even that condition didn’t dampen his spirit.

“He fought to the very end,” said Ellen Saenz, a teacher who worked with him for the past four years. “Brice just had a wonderful soul.”

When Dickerson was first diagnosed at age 9, he was given only six months to live. He was determined, however, to beat the odds and was always willing to undergo experimental medical treatments.

“Brice never had that attitude that he was going to give up,” said his father, Mike Dickerson. “Never.”

Instead, Dickerson used his situation to help others. Occasionally, he gave inspirational speeches to medical or business groups, telling them about his long ordeal with cancer.

But he didn’t like to dwell on his condition either, friends said. He preferred to ask others how they were feeling. His father said the happiest time of his son’s life was last July when he went on a two-week church mission in a poor section of Texas.

“For those two weeks, he said he never thought of his cancer,” Mike Dickerson said. “Material things didn’t mean anything to him after that. He was so happy.”

Said Saenz: “He was always concerned about others.”

And others were concerned about him.

Several student groups at Fountain Valley High held fund-raisers to help the Dickersons with Brice’s medical bills. The mayor of Williamsport, Pa., where the Little League World Series are held, gave him a key to the city after learning that the teen-ager had always wanted to participate in the event.

In addition to baseball, Dickerson was interested in football and had a dream of his realized when he attended the 1986 Rose Bowl. After the game, UCLA coach Terry Donahue awarded him the game ball.

But it was at school where Dickerson found much of his pleasure in life. He enjoyed the social aspect to it and even attended the homecoming dance last October. Two months ago, high school officials, sensing that Dickerson would soon succumb to his illness, held a special graduation ceremony for him, complete with a chorus and speeches. More than 700 people attended.

“Here was a student who touched so many people,” said Saenz, who added that the mortuary was so moved that it donated the funeral costs to his family.

Dickerson is survived by his parents, Mike and Cindy Dickerson, and three brothers, Shawn, 20, Brandon, 15, and Ryan, 14.

A viewing will be held Wednesday between 4 and 8 p.m. at Pacific View Memorial Park, 3500 Pacific View Drive in Newport Beach.

Funeral services are scheduled for Thursday at 2 p.m. at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 8702 Atlanta Ave. in Huntington Beach.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be sent to the Brice Dickerson Memorial Fund at Fountain Valley High School, 17816 Bushard St., Fountain Valley, Calif. 92708, in care of Ellen Saenz.