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Co-founder and past president of the Broadcast Promotion Association, Wilfred Thomas Dawson, 87, of Blacksburg died Oct. 8, 2015 at Kroontje Health Care Facility in Blacksburg, Va., after a lengthy illness. The Broadcast Promotion Association is the precursor of PromaxBDA International. Dawson was awarded PromaxBDA’s Lifetime Achievement Award at its 50th anniversary convention in New York in 2005.
Before his retirement, Tom Dawson had a distinguished 30-year career with CBS Radio and Television, the last 17 of which he served as a vice president in various capacities.
RELATED: Read the original June 1956 letter to the industry on the formation of the BPA.
Dawson was born on Sept. 14, 1928, in Galveston, Texas, the son of a professor at the University of Texas School of Medicine. He received his degree from the famed Radio House at the University of Texas and studied additionally at Stanford and Columbia Universities.
Before joining CBS in 1954 he held positions in announcing, research, and sales promotion and advertising at KTBC and KGBC in Texas and KTTV and KHJ in Los Angeles.
Dawson traveled extensively and was a member of numerous professional organizations. In 2003, he moved with his wife to Blacksburg to be closer to their daughter and granddaughters. He had joined the Blacksburg Rotary Club shortly before being stricken by his illness.
He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Nita Logan Dawson; daughter June Dawson of New York; daughter Diane Dawson Hearn and husband Walter Hearn of Blacksburg; granddaughter Leana Hearn Fischer and husband Dan Fischer, and granddaughter Melanie June Hearn and fiance John Hay, Jr.
The family extends its deepest appreciation for their kindnesses and care to Dr. Harry McCoy, Dr. Tony Ringold, the staff and nurses at Kroontje Health Care Facility and Good Samaritan Hospice, and to Lori Branch for her devotion during the years of his home care.
A graveside service is pending. In lieu of flowers it is suggested contributions can be made in Mr. Dawson’s memory to the Library of American Broadcasting, the University of Maryland, 4130 Campus Drive, College Park, Maryland, 20740, which houses the Tom Dawson Collection, or to a charity of your choice.
Arrangements by McCoy Funeral Home, Inc., Blacksburg.
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