Marvin H. "Mickey" Dawson, Jr.

Spartanburg, SC- Marvin “Mickey” Dawson, Jr., 82, husband of Mary Lou Gable Dawson, died Wednesday, April 21, 2021 at his home. “Mickey” was born September 17, 1938 in Little Washington, North Carolina to the late Marvin H Dawson Sr. and Catherine Overman Dawson. The oldest of four children, he grew up in Durham, North Carolina. He earned degrees at both Campbell Junior College and the University of South Carolina. Before embarking on a 40+ year career in Forensic Document Examining and law enforcement, he worked at WTVD news in Durham, North Carolina, WNOK news in Columbia, South Carolina and The State Record Newspaper. After becoming a board certified forensic document examiner (American Board of Forensic Document Examiners) in Atlanta, GA, he then went on to Washington, DC for FBI and Secret Service training. In 1975, he helped to build and manage the forensic photography lab at the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and subsequently established their Document Laboratory. He retired from the state of South Carolina following a 27 year career as a commissioned state law enforcement officer wherein 25 of those were served as a forensic document examiner. He then went on to practice privately and testify over 500 times as an expert in the field of forensic document examination and questioned documents in courts all over the United States. Mickey was an avid fisherman, hunter, photographer, and loved the water, especially Lake Murray, Lake Zimmerman, Pawleys and Tybee Islands. He was a proud mason and member of the Jamil Shrine Temple before moving to Spartanburg, SC. He honorably served in the SC National Guard and was actively involved in numerous law enforcement organizations, and the Natural Resource Conservation Service. In addition to his wife, Mary Lou Gable Dawson, Mickey was survived by his son, Marvin H. Dawson, III and his wife, Lois, of Eastover, SC; his daughter, Mandy Fannin and her husband, Eric, of Columbia, SC; three grandchildren, Ayden Boatwright, Tyler Fannin, and Sophia Fannin; a brother, Pete Dawson and his wife, Carol, of Mebane, NC; a sister, Martha D. McIntosh and her husband, Glenn, of Wilmington, NC; a very special friend since the 8th grade, Ed Farrell; his constant companion, Lucy (the cat); and his former wife, Ann Boozer Dawson. Mickey was predeceased by a step daughter, Kylie Gable; and a brother, Carl Dawson. Graveside services will be held Monday, April 26th, 2:00PM in Heritage Memorial Gardens, officiated by Reverend Dr. Tim Williams. The family kindly requests that everyone social distance and wear their masks. If you would like to send flowers, you can- however, in lieu of flowers the family would like for you to make a donation in Mickey’s name to the Diabetes or Heart Association, www.diabetes.org/donate or www.heart.org.