John W. Dawson, key to education for many

The Brooklyn Park man helped hundreds of young people at colleges from North Dakota to Minnesota.

By MARY LYNN SMITH, Star Tribune

Last update: October 8, 2009 - 9:35 PM

John W. Dawson believed that an education was the key to unlocking dreams.

He lived it. And then he helped make it happen for hundreds of young people throughout his lifetime in a range of work that took him from the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks to North Hennepin Community College to Normandale Community College to the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota and finally to the Minnesota Office of Higher Education.

Dawson, 57, of Brooklyn Park, died Monday from complications related to diabetes and heart problems. He was on his evening walk around Como Lake in St. Paul when he collapsed.

"He was trying to get healthy and in shape so that he could dance with our daughter at her wedding" next summer, said his wife, Heather Huseby.

Dawson was born and raised in Warren, Ohio, where his father worked in a steel mill and his mother was a domestic employee for some of the town's wealthy families. His parents' education went no further than the sixth grade, and they wanted more for their son. Determined to get a college education, Dawson used his talents on the football field to land at the University of Minnesota-Crookston.

"He believed education was a way out of poverty," Huseby said.

After two years at Crookston, he earned a bachelor's degree in secondary education and library sciences and then a master's degree in counseling from the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. He worked for the university, helping students obtain professional internships and then moved to Minnesota in 1989, taking a job as college relations director for Unisys in Roseville.

"He had this attachment to working with young people," Huseby said. "He wanted to send a message ... that it doesn't make any difference what color you are. It doesn't make any difference where you come from. You can do better than that. All you have to do is have someone help you along the way."

Dawson became that person for the young people he met, she said.

Education for a better life

Dawson became director of diversity at North Hennepin Community College in Brooklyn Park and later director of new-student services at Normandale Community College in Bloomington. Eventually, he took a job as the first director of the Leadership Access Program at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management and then became planning associate for the Minnesota Office of Higher Education, helping students move from high school to college.

"He believed a post-secondary education was your calling card to a better life," Huseby said. "That was his mantra."

Tom Horak, former president at Normandale, said Dawson "would go out of his way to open doors and help people navigate the system so they could reach their dreams."

"When he met a person, he would just listen and be attentive. ... He would engage them," Horak said. "He was a very handsome, poised person. He had this wonderful smile. He was sincerely interested in you. And the students picked up on this right away. ... He had a certain charisma about him."

His message to young people was simple: Believe in yourself. Treat everyone with respect. "His spirit of kindness" will live on, Huseby said.

In addition to his wife, Dawson is survived by a daughter, Kelsey Dawson, and a granddaughter.

Visitation will be held from 10 to 11 a.m. today at Speak the Word Church International, 515 Jersey Av. S., Golden Valley, followed by services at 11 a.m.

Mary Lynn Smith • 612-673-4788

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