Richard Pearson, the former general manager of KVIA and KTSM television stations, died today at his home after a long struggle with Parkinson’s Disease. He was 71.
Pearson, who was known for his sharp, colorful and sometimes outrageous on-air editorials, spent his career in El Paso as a radio personality, advertising salesman and manager and head of the two television operations.
He was with KVIA-TV and its predecessor, KELP-TV, for almost 25 years before moving to KTSM as general manager in 1991. He retired in 2003.
Pearson is survived by his wife, Karen, and four children: sons Mark, 47, and Eric, 39, and daughters Robin, 46, and Kim, 41.
He was UTEP's distinguished alumnus in 1996.
His son, Eric Pearson, a former news director at KTSM and now vice president of the El Paso Community Foundation, said he thinks his father will be remembered for his passionate support of the El Paso community, its institutions and, to the wider public, for his brash editorials.
“There was no on in any editorial position who spoke as candidly or openly about what worked and what didn’t work in El Paso,” he said.
A memorial for Richard Pearson will be held 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16, at the Plaza Theatre.
Eric Pearson asked that memorial donations on his father’s behalf be made to the Karen and Richard Pearson Fund for Journalism at the University of Texas at El Paso.
They may be sent in care of the El Paso Community Foundation, P.O. Box 272, El Paso, Texas 79943 or made online through www.epcf.org/donate.
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To reach David Crowder, write to dcrowder@epmediagroup.com or call (915) 351-0605, ext. 30, or 630-6622.
