Remembering Tom Morrison, longtime TV30 commentator

Longtime TV30 commentator Tom Morrison died April 18 with his wife Kathy and family at his side, ending his long battle with cancer. He was 83.

Morrison served as an on-air commentator for Tri-Valley Community Television starting in 1988, first as an announcer and then as co-anchor of “580/680 News.” Later, he became the host of “Tri-Valley Mayors Report” until he retired last March.

Now known as TV30, the nonprofit television system has been broadcasting since 1976 and provides locally focused programming for the cities of Dublin, Livermore and Pleasanton on Comcast channels TV30, 29 and 28.

Morrison graduated from Oakland High School in 1954 and joined the Army. After returning to the Bay Area, he worked as a salesman for various companies before joining the TV30 news team.

When the 580/680 News program was canceled because of budget cuts, Morrison and co-anchor Melinda Meza closed 20 years of regularly scheduled local news at TV30 June 27, 2008 in a farewell reminiscent of the final episode of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” when Mary Richards, Ed Asner and Ted Knight tearfully turned out the lights at the fabled WJM newsroom for the last time.

Morrison was the recipient of two prestigious awards from the Bay Area Television Association. TV30’s television studio, located in a building next to the Pleasanton Unified School District’s headquarters on Bernal Avenue, was recently named “Tom Morrison Studio” in recognition of his decades of service.

“Tom was a truly nice man,” said Melissa Tench-Stevens, executive director of Tri-Valley Community Television. “He was a talented colleague and friend to all of us at TV30. We miss him and are honored we had a chance to be a part of his career and life.”

When Morrison retired, Tench-Stevens named former assemblywoman Catharine Baker and Livermore school board member Craig Bueno as co-hosts of the popular “Mayor’s Report.”

Besides his wife Kathy, Tom Morrison is survived by his sons Kevin Morrison (Laura) and Michael Morrison (Leticia); a sister, Jenean Suess; stepchildren Stacey Morgan (Rick), Kristin Yarwood (Matt), Amy Montez (Steve) and Bradley Stegman (Jessica Sproule), and eight grandchildren. He was predeceased by his ex-wife Betty Morrison.

A memorial mass will be held at 3:30 p.m. May 15 at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, 2601 San Ramon Valley Blvd. in San Ramon. In lieu of flowers, Morrison requested a donation be made in his name to the Tri-Valley Community Television Foundation, with contribution details available online at www.tv30foundation.org.