Tom McGehee

Thomas Rive McGehee, Sr. (July 12, 1924 – August 6, 2002) was a Jacksonville, Florida business and civic leader who served on the boards of over twenty entities and founded the charity, Dreams Come True.

McGehee was born and raised in Jacksonville and served in the US Army during World War II. He was a corporal in the 8th Armored Division until his discharge in 1946, then attended Jacksonville University and the University of Alabama, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in chemistry. He married the former Delia Houser Crawford in 1950. and they had two children, Thomas R. Jr. (Mac), and Delia Houser, II (Dede).

Thomas’s father, Clifford Graham McGehee, had founded the Jacksonville Paper Company in 1919, and after college, Thomas was dispatched to the company’s mill in Louisiana to learn the paper manufacturing business. By 1956, he was president of the company, which was sold by the family in 1965. Tom and his brother Frank immediately started a new company, Mac Papers, to target the printing and graphics industries. The business was successful and expanded throughout 8 southeastern states. As of 2006, the firm recorded sales in excess of $500 million, employed 950 people and was one of the 50 largest private companies in the Greater Jacksonville Metropolitan Area.

Tom and Frank McGehee founded Christian Television of Jacksonville. The non-profit purchased Channel 47 before it was launched in August 1980 and requested the call letters, WXAO. "XAO" stood for "Christ, the alpha and the omega" in Greek. Their intent was to be an alternative to commercial television's sex and violence by broadcasting programs from The PTL Club, Christian Television Network, and Trinity Broadcast Network. The station was Jacksonville's first 24-hour station, but never generated a large viewership and was sold in 1990 for approximately $3 million.

McGehee was active in civic endeavors in Jacksonville, serving as president of United Way in 1964. He was a member of the board of Barnett Bank from 1961–1992 and served on the board of Jacksonville University from 1959 until the late 1990s, including a stint as chairman in 1992. McGehee volunteered to help neighborhood groups like Friends of Five Points as often as more visible organizations, such as the Chamber of Commerce.

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