Dixie was born on November 10, 1939, to Kenneth and Jane Tillotson Land in Clinton, Iowa. She had always wanted to become a nurse, and at 15 took a job at Jane Lamb Hospital in Clinton. Dixie graduated from Clinton High School in 1957 and entered Nurses training at Rockford Memorial Hospital School of Nursing the following fall. Upon graduation, she obtained a position at the Dartmouth College student infirmary in Hanover, N.H. Soon after, she married her high school sweetheart, Larry Jakubsen, a senior at the college. When he graduated, they moved to New Jersey, where their son, Brad, was born and where Larry attended graduate school at Rutgers.

Dixie and her family then moved to Fort Brag, N.C. where Larry fulfilled his ROTC commitment. From there, work took them to Georgia, Charlotte, and eventually to Kernersville N.C. where they've made their home for the last 40 plus years. Throughout this period, though Dixie was always involved administratively in the family business, she maintained her passion for nursing and medical care part-time in the fields of rehab, med-surg, and finally, her favorite, assisted living at Friends' Homes Guilford in Greensboro, N.C. At this institution, she fulfilled her obligation for six years. As her husband Larry's health declined, Dixie turned her Hippocratic outlook inward towards her own family.

In the early 2000's, Dixie and business partner Dave Shaffer started Alabaster Book Publishing, and for the next two decades published 137 books by 59 authors, 12 of which were penned by Dixie herself under her maiden name, Dixie Land. During much of this time, the also hosted bi-monthly evening writers' meetings with attendees from Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point, as well as Kernersville, including John Staples, as long-time friend, supporter and author.

Dixie was preceded in death by her parents and her cousin Linda, whom she thought of as a sister, and her beloved toy poodle and rescue pup, Precious. She is survived by her loving husband Larry; son Brad; and three grandchildren Alex, Ross and Ryan. Arrangements are to be made by Pierce-Jefferson Funeral Services.