Obituaries

Calvin E. Wasson

Calvin E. Wasson died February 1, 2017, in Little Rock, Arkansas. He was born June 28, 1943 in Chicago, Illinois, to the late Roy Carlton Wasson and Gladys Rasmussen Wasson. Cal earned a bachelor's degree in English from Drury College in Springfield, Missouri, where he was also a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity. He earned a master's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri School of Journalism. In 1972 he earned the first of two competitive journalism fellowships, the Chicago Urban Journalism Fellowship at the University of Chicago, and in 1976 the National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowships for Journalists at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, now The Knight-Wallace Fellowships. His long career in journalism included KYTV in Springfield; WSLS in Roanoke, Virginia and long-time news director at KAIT in Jonesboro, where he led the news department in winning a Peabody Award and a duPont Journalism Award for documentary films. In retirement, he wrote cover features for Aging Arkansas and Mature Arkansas magazine. Moving to Little Rock in 1984, he worked for Heifer Project International. He was most proud of his work as a lobbyist for the indoor smoking ban, first in the South, while working with the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Arkansas. Cal was a U.S. Army Infantry veteran, serving during Vietnam and at Fort Howard, Panama Canal Zone, earning the rank of sergeant. A life-long athlete, he enjoyed tennis, golf, hiking and canoeing with family and friends. He is survived by wife Julie; his former wife and best friend Anne H. Wasson and daughter Sarah Wasson, both of Little Rock, and son John Wasson of Arcata, California; two brothers-in-law, John and Harry Howard (Vikki); nieces, Sabre and Tara, all of California; and a cousin, Mary Jane McFee (Ken) of Sugar Grove, Illinois. The family would be honored for friends to join them for a memorial service of Cal's life Feb. 11, Second Presbyterian Church, Little Rock at 11 a.m.

Published February 8, 2017

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