During his business and public service career, Gene Dyson was known as a mover-and-shaker with a heart for helping others.
As head of the Business Council of Georgia, he lobbied state legislators to fund projects to boost commerce and tourism.
As a civic leader, he worked with more than 100 nonprofits, chairing boards and volunteering his organizational and fundraising skills to raise millions for charity.
How Dyson managed to juggle it all, friends and family said, was a testament to his strong work ethic, enthusiasm, creativity, charm – and Type A personality.
“He was Mr. Nonprofit. Volunteerism was his middle name,” said Sam Massell, Buckhead Coalition president and former Atlanta mayor. “He received a lot of honors, but not a lot of money. He did a tremendous job in helping these organizations.”
Massell first met Dyson in the late 1980s when Dyson phoned to offer his assistance to the newly founded Buckhead Coalition.
“Many people’s only focus is on personal reward. But in his case, it was all about helping others,” Massell said. “It was a pleasant surprise to run into someone like that. ”
Dyson died June 5 of complications from emphysema at his Johns Creek home. He was 75. Visitation is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. and a memorial service will be held at 3:30 p.m. Sunday at the H.M. Patterson & Son-Oglethorpe Hill Chapel in Atlanta.
He was born Nov. 8, 1939, in Columbia, S.C. An only child with an outgoing personality, Dyson was named most popular at Eau Claire High School. He received so many prom invitations that he attended the junior and senior prom every year of high school.
While attending the University of South Carolina, he joined the debate team, which he credited with helping him hone his negotiation skills.
Before his career in association management, Dyson served in the U.S. Navy and worked for General Motors. He attended night school at Georgia State University.
In 1965, he began working for the Georgia Business and Industry Association, which later merged with the state chamber of commerce and became the Business Council of Georgia. He later became president and CEO.
After successfully lobbying the state legislature in the early 1970s to build the Georgia World Congress Center, Dyson became head of the GWCC Authority. He held the unpaid post for seven years, overseeing the facility’s construction.
“A lot of people thought he did this work for pay, but it was not. That was all in addition to his full-time job,” said Jim Parkman, who worked with Dyson as executive vice president of the Business Council. “Gene thought the Georgia World Congress Center would be a plus for Georgia. He was the consummate volunteer. If he committed to a cause, he would see it through.”
Known as charismatic and a great storyteller, Dyson had a gift for attracting other people to support the causes he championed. He was a strong advocate for political involvement, a free enterprise system and volunteerism.
He served as chairman of the Metropolitan Atlanta chapter of the Red Cross, and received its Volunteer of the Year Award in 1984.
While a national board member of the American Red Cross, he co-chaired the 1989 National Disaster Relief campaign. In 1993, he received the Harriman Award, the highest recognition for volunteer service in the American Red Cross. Two years later, he became acting president of the group for 15 months when Elizabeth Dole took a leave of absence.
Dyson was a financial strategist for Jimmy Carter’s presidential campaign and led numerous fundraising drives for nonprofits, including the High Museum of Art, United Way of Metro Atlanta and the Northeast Georgia Girl Scout Council.
Among his many honors, he was named Outstanding Association Executive in Georgia in 1973 and Outstanding State Association Executive in America in 1976. He received the Governor’s Volunteer of the Year Award in 1982 and the Southeastern Volunteer of the Year Award in 1983.
In 1991 and 1996, Georgia Trend named him one of the 100 Most Powerful and Influential People in Georgia. In 1992, he was inducted into the Georgia Public Relations Hall of Fame.
“Someone once asked him the secret of his success, and he said hard work,” said his wife Mina Dyson. “He said plenty of people are smarter than me but there are not many people who work harder than me. He was a very sweet person who treated everyone equally.”
In addition to his wife, Dyson is survived by his daughters Amanda Dyson Dana of Tucker and Andrea Dyson of Atlanta; and two grandchildren.
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