Don Dunwell, 82, host of the Dunwell Report on KTVH, died Saturday afternoon from kidney cancer.
He worked at KTVH from 2004 to 2017 in various positions, including news director, anchor and reporter.
His best friend and coworker KTVH meteorologist Curtis Grevenitz describes Dunwell as a dedicated professional who loved his work and was a mentor to many reporters who came through the TV station over the years.
“He was out of the Walter Cronkite mold of journalist — just a true old- school journalist,” said Grevenitz. "One of his biggest contributions was passing that approach to journalism and that mentality onto all of the youngins who came through Helena. He had been an experienced journalist who worked all over the country who came back to Montana ... and touched a lot of lives of people both outside of the business and also within the business.”
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May you Rest In Peace my friend Don Dunwell. Thank u 4 your insightful journalism and professional service. I will miss you. #mtpol #mtnews pic.twitter.com/ZFGLKKpr8l
— Tim Fox (@AGTimFox) April 30, 2017
He’d help out young journalists, provide counsel and advice and help guide them on how to be journalists, he said. “He’d help these young kids grow up. On social media, everyone called him a mentor and a friend.”
Grevenitz refers to his influence as “the Dunwell tree” that has branched across the country and includes journalists, sports writers and meteorologists.
“The Dunwell Report touched so many political and social issues that affect Montanans. I would say that was really who he was — somebody who wanted to inform Montanans about things that impact them whether they know it or not.”
Dunwell was self-taught in journalism, said his wife Mary Ann Dunwell, who is a legislator representing House District 84. He was passionate about history, she said, and saw politics and news as history in the making.
In fact, he loved his work so much he told Grevenitz he would work until the day he died.
Sorry to hear of the passing of Don Dunwell from KTVH television in Helena. His broadcast were complete and informative. #mtpol pic.twitter.com/A8klLw2p4Q
— Matt Rosendale (@MattForMontana) May 1, 2017
And that just about came true. He came in Wednesday morning, although he was very ill and receiving radiation treatments. He had to be convinced by his co-workers to take a sick day and go home.
“He was involved with the news department all the way until last summer,” said Grevenitz. In the past months, he had focused on the Dunwell Report.
“I think he had the profound respect of anyone who had worked with him or interacted with him,” he said, as well as his contacts in his personal life. “I had the utmost respect for him.”
MTN political reporter Mike Dennison recalled when he and Chuck Johnson were Lee State Bureau reporters and would be invited on the Dunwell Report to be interviewed about the Legislature or as guest interviewers.
Rest in peace, our local warrior for truth and productive dialog. #DunwellReport pic.twitter.com/lJRicJ6pj2
— LCDCC (@LCcountyDems) April 30, 2017
“I just thought Don followed things very closely,” Dennison said. “He was really interested in the news and its effects on people. He was really well informed about issues and had so much experience that you probably wouldn’t necessarily see at a smaller station like this and a small market like Helena.”
“He had so much interest in the news and was so informed about what was going on that enabled him to bring it to viewers through that show and other things he worked on.”
Dunwell was a Montana native and was born at St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula July 25, 1934.
“His dad worked on WPA projects,” said Mary Ann Dunwell, so Don grew up in communities across Montana where there were dam projects including Fort Peck and Columbia Falls and also Irwin, Idaho.
At age 18 he joined the Army at the time of the Korean Conflict and was a paratrooper. He was so good that the Army never did send him overseas, but turned him into an instructor instead.
After the Army, he went to the University of Montana and studied history.
“He loved history, so it’s fitting that he became a reporter,” said Mary Ann, “because you know news and current events are history in the making …. He was a Renaissance man. He loved trying new things and he loved gadgets.
“He was proud as heck of being a University of Montana alumnus,” she said, noting he was "a Griz nut.”
Don Dunwell invited me a few times to interview folks on 'Dunwell Report.' Sorry to learn of his death. A nice man & a dedicated journalist
— Phil Drake (@GFTrib_PDrake) April 30, 2017
After receiving a scholarship to do a master’s degree in history at the University of Delaware in Newark, Don discovered graduate school was not for him.
About that time he saw an ad for a radio station announcer and applied. “As soon as he talked into the microphone he got the job," Mary Ann said.
He worked for radio stations in Delaware and then transitioned into TV. While working at a public TV station in Wilmington, Delaware, he met Mary Ann, who was an intern and later an employee there.
He also worked in TV in Lake Charles, Louisiana; Cincinnati; Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City and San Diego.
The family would vacation in Montana, Mary Ann said, and they jumped at a chance to move here.
When Mary Ann landed a job with the state in 2004, Don got hired at KTVH.
Up until the very end, he cared about politics, urging Mary Ann to be sure to be at the Capitol. “He wanted me to push buttons for infrastructure,” she said of the controversial infrastructure bill, rather than have her sit in the hospital with him.
“He never stopped learning,” she said. “Don was fascinated with fascinating people. He loved, loved news and public affairs. He just wouldn’t quit. ... It gave him his identity and he just loved it. He made a difference. His journalism made a difference. I think that’s all we can ask for in this world to make a difference in the life of others, and he sure did.”