Death of Drew Dimmel

[Samantha 2895]

We missed this one, so I'm going to say it now.

 

Drew Dimmel passed away January 21, 2017, at the age of 68. He was known to TV news aficionados as the voice of a variety of television stations, including KMBC in his home market of Kansas City, where he also was the weekend weatherman at one time. Other notable stations he voiced include several of the legacy Sinclair stations in the late 1990s and early 2000s and KGUN. He also did national advertisements and several religious programs.

 

Dimmel was also for quite some time the voice of the Kansas City International Airport and even was a singer in his teenage years, part of a group called The Classmen; he later toured with the USO. It was on one of these tours that he became a pioneer in the voiceover industry for the use of ISDN, today a standard.

 

Heck, he even recorded two minutes of video of The Beatles playing Kansas City's Municipal Stadium in 1964 that attracted international attention when it was uncovered again in 2008.

 

In 2001, Dimmel was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and became active in organizations related to that condition, becoming the president of the local Parkinson Foundation. As his condition progressed, he retired from voiceover work in 2015.

 

Here is a remembrance video that was probably played at funeral services.

 

 

And here's an early 90s demo reel of his, primarily featuring film reviews:

 

[ChesapeakeTV 311]

Another of the greats has left us...may he rest in peace.