Obituary for Ian Dawson
Ian Godfrey Dawson, 71, of Woodway, passed away unexpectedly on June 16, 2022. Ian was born on May 29, 1951, in Harare, Zimbabwe. His outgoing personality, business acumen and entrepreneurial spirit led to friendships spanning across the world. He loved his family deeply. His encouragement and counsel will be sorely missed. In addition to loving his work, his family, church friends and a good party, Ian was very patriotic. He served on the Police Special Branch in Zimbabwe (known as Rhodesia at the time) from 1974-1978 and was extremely proud to be an American citizen. He earned his US citizenship in 2015.
Ian was especially close to his younger sister Felicity and relished being an older brother and protector to her. He lived his life with a fearless, competitive spirit and keen sense of humor. As an avid sportsman, he captained several rugby teams throughout his school career in Zimbabwe at Springvale Preparatory School and then in high school at Peterhouse.
As a father, he worked tirelessly to make sure each of his children received an excellent education and a good start in life. He brought a sense of adventure and amusement to parenting and was always present for advice, encouragement, or the occasional moments of tough love. He often delighted his children with stories of his youthful escapades and mischief he instigated with his childhood friends… Ian’s antics continued into adulthood, as many who knew him could attest. His enthusiastic, positive attitude was contagious.
Ian adored the ocean and was an accomplished swimmer. As a college student at the University of Cape Town, he would dive in the coastal waters to catch crayfish (lobsters) to sell to restaurants to supplement his income. Not long after he earned his Bachelor of Arts in Economics and English, he began playing underwater hockey and captained the Zimbabwean team in tours to Australia, England, Holland and the United States. As an experienced scuba diver, he dove in the Chinhoyi caves in Zimbabwe and explored scuba diving all over the world.
Ian’s adventurous spirit expanded upward as the sky beckoned him. He took up paragliding, became a certified glider pilot earning his Silver C and earned his private pilot’s license in 1999. One of Ian’s most prized possessions was his Cessna 182 which he had disassembled and shipped to the US upon immigrating, and then had it reassembled once more. He flew for many years obtaining his instrument rating.
Ian began his sales and marketing career at Lever Brothers in the late 1970s and soon moved into the world of advertising as an account executive. Later he would launch his own advertising agency which grew into one of the largest firms in Zimbabwe. Ian’s next entrepreneurial venture was establishing Success Motivation International (SMI) in Zimbabwe as a Master Licensee and then expanding it to several other countries in southern Africa. This ultimately led Ian to Waco, Texas, in 2002 when he accepted the position of President of SMI. His life’s work was dedicated to helping people realize their innate potential, and this continued through his work at Leadership Management International where he served as an Executive Vice President until the time of his death.
Ian was preceded in death by his parents, Gilbert and Elaine Dawson. He is survived by his sister Felicity Ambrose, his children; Rhett (Katie) Dawson and Christina (Andrew) Lemly, his granddaughters Grace and Gail Lemly as well as Marge Dawson and Margaret Whiteside. He will be missed by many other relatives and friends.
**To view the service for Ian Dawson, log into Facebook.com and search for OakCrest Funeral Home, you may need to scroll through to videos, or the video will automatically appear. The video will only appear when the service begins, not before.
Ian was especially close to his younger sister Felicity and relished being an older brother and protector to her. He lived his life with a fearless, competitive spirit and keen sense of humor. As an avid sportsman, he captained several rugby teams throughout his school career in Zimbabwe at Springvale Preparatory School and then in high school at Peterhouse.
As a father, he worked tirelessly to make sure each of his children received an excellent education and a good start in life. He brought a sense of adventure and amusement to parenting and was always present for advice, encouragement, or the occasional moments of tough love. He often delighted his children with stories of his youthful escapades and mischief he instigated with his childhood friends… Ian’s antics continued into adulthood, as many who knew him could attest. His enthusiastic, positive attitude was contagious.
Ian adored the ocean and was an accomplished swimmer. As a college student at the University of Cape Town, he would dive in the coastal waters to catch crayfish (lobsters) to sell to restaurants to supplement his income. Not long after he earned his Bachelor of Arts in Economics and English, he began playing underwater hockey and captained the Zimbabwean team in tours to Australia, England, Holland and the United States. As an experienced scuba diver, he dove in the Chinhoyi caves in Zimbabwe and explored scuba diving all over the world.
Ian’s adventurous spirit expanded upward as the sky beckoned him. He took up paragliding, became a certified glider pilot earning his Silver C and earned his private pilot’s license in 1999. One of Ian’s most prized possessions was his Cessna 182 which he had disassembled and shipped to the US upon immigrating, and then had it reassembled once more. He flew for many years obtaining his instrument rating.
Ian began his sales and marketing career at Lever Brothers in the late 1970s and soon moved into the world of advertising as an account executive. Later he would launch his own advertising agency which grew into one of the largest firms in Zimbabwe. Ian’s next entrepreneurial venture was establishing Success Motivation International (SMI) in Zimbabwe as a Master Licensee and then expanding it to several other countries in southern Africa. This ultimately led Ian to Waco, Texas, in 2002 when he accepted the position of President of SMI. His life’s work was dedicated to helping people realize their innate potential, and this continued through his work at Leadership Management International where he served as an Executive Vice President until the time of his death.
Ian was preceded in death by his parents, Gilbert and Elaine Dawson. He is survived by his sister Felicity Ambrose, his children; Rhett (Katie) Dawson and Christina (Andrew) Lemly, his granddaughters Grace and Gail Lemly as well as Marge Dawson and Margaret Whiteside. He will be missed by many other relatives and friends.
**To view the service for Ian Dawson, log into Facebook.com and search for OakCrest Funeral Home, you may need to scroll through to videos, or the video will automatically appear. The video will only appear when the service begins, not before.