Dawn and Sid Dinsdale Named Aksarben’s Most Honored Citizens of 2022

Dawn and Sid Dinsdale were named Aksarben’s Most Honored Citizens for 2022 at the annual Aksarben Ball celebration on Saturday night.

Born in South Dakota, Dawn’s family moved to Ralston when she was a child. She would then go to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Sid was born in Grand Island and raised in Palmer, Nebraska where he worked in the family feedlots, hay and corn fields. After attending Hastings College for two years, he also attended UNL, where he met Dawn.

Dawn earned a Bachelor of Science in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, and earned a Masters in Audiology from UNL. Sid earned a bachelor’s degree in finance. The couple married in 1976.

Dawn is known as a “champion of giving”, an inveterate volunteer. She was named Woman of the Year by the Arthritis Foundation in 2015 and has served in various ways for Assure Women, Completely Kids, Children’s Respite Care Center, Habitat for Humanity, Lauritzen Gardens, Quality Living, Grace University, Special Olympics, Youth for Christ. and the Nebraska Children’s Home.

Sid is a member of the Omaha Business Hall of Fame. He has served on the boards of the University of Nebraska Foundation, Bellevue University, Methodist Health System, Ameritas Life Insurance Corporation, Omaha Children’s Hospital, Platte Institute and Midland’s Community Hospital.

The couple are goodwill ambassadors for the Midwest and have a “distinguished history” with Aksarben, Aksarben officials said. Sid became an Aksarben Councilor in 2005 and Board Governor in 2014. Dawn served on the Women’s Prom Committee as Chair in 2006 and Councilor in 2007 and was a proud member of Aksarben Friends.

Their daughter Alison was countess in 2002; her daughter Paige was Countess in 2004 and crowned Queen the same year; and their son Matt was an escort in 2007. More recently, several of their grandchildren have served as Aksarben pages.

Additionally, Aksarben awarded 200 scholarships to students from Nebraska and western Iowa. Scholarships are awarded to students to attend the Nebraska college or university of their choice.

Now in its 127th year, nearly 1,750 people attended the event at the CHI health center, Aksarben officials said.