Dan Watts Named 2023 Distinguished Alumnus of the Year

Fort Gay High School Alumni Association has announced that Cecil Daniel “Dan” Watts has been selected as the 2023 Distinguished Alumnus of the Year.

Dan is a Fort Gay High School 1959 graduate and received his Master’s Degree in Journalism from Marshall University. He is a veteran of the United States Army and was stationed in Germany during the height of the Cold War and construction of the Berlin Wall.

Dan worked for the Herald Dispatch and Ashland Daily Independent newspapers before starting his own newspaper, The Press-Observer, which published local news from surrounding communities and in 1975 published a special Fort Gay centennial edition which is still referenced today. He later published the Tri-Rivers Advertiser which was delivered free to 30,000 residents of West Virginia and Kentucky. Dan retired from the Journalism business in the early 2000’s.

Dan was very involved within the community serving on the Fort Gay Town Council. He was a member of the original Lions Club and later helped reactivate the club in the 2000’s. Dan was a member of the group that established the first Health Clinic in Fort Gay. His efforts helped establish the first bank in Fort Gay. Dan led efforts to restore the historic Fairview Cemetery and was an original trustee of the Bartram Cemetery, establishing a self-supporting fund.

Dan and Cora Elizabeth Meade were married in 1965 and raised three sons, Dennis, Steven and Jeffrey. Dan currently resides with his son, Dennis on a farm just outside of Fort Gay.