Daniel Webster Dawson

1937 - 2021

(News story) Daniel Webster Dawson, a 29-year Scott High School teacher and the athletic director during an extended run of winning Bulldog teams, who in the 2000s became known for his staunch defense of residential neighborhoods near the University of Toledo, died Tuesday in his South Toledo home. He was 83.

He had not been ill, and his death was unexpected, his son Daniel W. Dawson II said.

He retired in 1996 from Scott, where he taught math and assisted students in the occupational work experience program. His aim, his son said, was "making sure they had an opportunity to succeed."

Mr. Dawson's sister Elzena Langston said: "He wanted these kid to learn. He didn't fool around. He was very good at his job, because he wanted the kids to get what they were supposed to get in school."

He arrived at Scott in 1967. In April, 1968, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated in Memphis, prompting an outpouring of frustration from the majority-Black student population at Scott.

"They felt everyone who had their interest at heart was being killed," Mr. Dawson told The Blade at the 50th anniversary of the civil rights leader's death.

Mr. Dawson had grown up in segregated Mississippi, where in 1955 Emmett Till, a 14-year-old from Chicago on summer vacation, was murdered. After the Reverend King was killed, some Scott stu-dents wept, Mr. Dawson said. Some didn't return to school for days. Students believed he'd been fighting solely for them.

Mr. Dawson urged them to take advantage of their opportunities and not be guided by anger.

"The most courageous thing we could do at that time was stay in school and get an education. Those were some things that Dr. King was fighting for," he said in 2018.

He stepped aside from athletic director duties in 1987. He'd been a high school football and basketball coach in Mississippi. At Scott, he started as an assistant football coach under Bill "Thunder" Thornton.

"He worked well with the community, and he supported the Scott athletic programs and worked with the boosters," said Ed Scrutchins, who was longtime City League commissioner.

Scott teams, particularly in basketball, won City League championships and advanced to state competition in the 1970s and 1980s.

"He was respected by the staff, and he supported [head basketball coach] Ben Williams and the football coaches," Mr. Scrutchins said. "He was jovial. He was not a loud person, but he enjoyed a good laugh. All the City League teams were well aware of Dan, and they worked well with him."

In retirement, Mr. Dawson was a volunteer at the Jerusalem Outreach Center, created by the Rev. H.M. Crenshaw, and worked with at-risk children as a teacher and supervisor of academics. For his service, he received a UT Minority Alumni Award in 1999.

Mr. Dawson, who lived in the near-UT Inverness Village neighborhood, became president of the United Residential Neighborhood Association, a coalition of 10 groups. During his tenure, he spoke frequently to UT and city officials about the concerns of longtime residents - unruly students living among them in neighborhoods.

"Any time you open up your mailbox and beer cans roll out, it's a problem," Mr. Dawson told The Blade in 2004.

He opposed zoning changes that increased off-campus student apartments and was an advocate for laws to hold homeowners responsible for hard-partying tenants - and for UT to extend its reach. "These are university students, whether they're on or off campus," he said in 2004.

Mrs. Langston said: "He stood up for what he thought was right. He spoke up and spoke out. That's what made him so known in whatever he did."

He was born May 6, 1937, in Indianola, Miss., to Claudia and Berry Dawson, the fifth of what would be 11 siblings, said Mrs. Langston, who is No. 2.

He played football, basketball, and baseball at Gentry High School and an athletics scholarship led him to what is now Mississippi Valley State University. He was an inductee to the university's athletic hall of fame.

He had a master's degree from UT.

A member of the Alpha Xi Lambda chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Mr. Dawson was named 1998 "Alpha of the Year" by the chapter.

Surviving are his wife, the former Mary Ferguson, whom he married in 1972; sons Daniel W. Dawson II and Marcus K. Dawson; sisters Elzena Langston and Alice Higgens; brothers Edward and Bridges Randle, and five grandchildren.

Memorial services will begin at 9 a.m. Monday in St. Martin de Porres Church, where he was a member. An Alpha Phi Alpha Omega ceremony is to begin at 9:30 a.m. at the church. Arrangements are by C. Brown Funeral Home.

This is a news story by Mark Zaborney. Contact him at mzaborney@theblade.com.