Editorial cartooning Obituary

Tom Bone – RIP

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D. D. Degg Published: October 23, 2025 1 minute 0 comments

Editorial and sports cartoonist and sports reporter Tom Bone has passed away.

From the obituary:

William Thomas (Tom) Bone III, cartoonist and writer, died on October 20, 2025 at Roanoke Memorial Carilion Hospital in Roanoke, Va.

He graduated from Union High School in 1972, from Concord College (now University) with an education degree in 1976 and from Marshall University with a Master of Arts degree in 1978.

He served on committees responsible for the creation of Athens Park and of the Marsh Family Carillon on the Concord campus in Athens. He was a founding member of the Athens-Concord Town Social Committee and performed for 15 years as the Town Social clown.

Bone was public information director at Concord College from 1979-99.

He was a writer for the Bluefield Daily Telegraph from 1999-2018, winning multiple awards in the Better Newspaper Contest of the West Virginia Press Association.

He drew editorial cartoons for the Princeton (W.Va.) Times for 30 years and was a former member of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists.

Bone created two animated cartoon short features, The Legend of Concord Charlie and Redbird. He also co-wrote and illustrated a children’s book, Uncle Snout Has a Cold, and a Family History coloring book, My History is No Mystery, for the children of the Bone and Workman families. He was the principal writer and executive producer of a 28-minute video history of Concord University.

Just a couple months before his passing he attended a local exhibit of his 30 year cartooning career. “Drawing Conclusions” was covered by WVVA-TV, The Register-Herald, and Lootpress which informed us:

Bone’s editorial cartoons cover a range of topics including state and national politics, social and moral issues, American holidays, and weather commentary. He contributed weekly cartoons to The Princeton Times from 1989 to 2018, earning first place honors in the small-paper division of the West Virginia Press Association‘s annual competition in 1999 and 2018.

A native of Bluefield who grew up in Monroe County, Bone graduated from Concord College (now University) and earned a master’s degree from Marshall University. He served as Concord’s public information director from 1979 to 1999 and later worked as a sportswriter and columnist for the Bluefield Daily Telegraph until 2019.

From the Bluefield Daily Telegraph via Yahoo:

“Both the Daily Telegraph and the Princeton Times. The Princeton Times for 30 years from 1989 to 2018 and in that span of 30 years I missed like two weeks, only two editions of the Times when I didn’t get a cartoon in, so I was very proud of that longevity,” Bone said.

The Bluefield Daily telegraph talked to friends on Tom’s passing (or here):

“I worked alongside Tom for 19 years in the Telegraph newsroom,” said Andy Patton, Managing Editor of the Bluefield Daily Telegraph and The Register-Herald. “He was a very talented writer who was just as comfortable reporting election results as he was writing a color piece from the sidelines of a Graham-Beaver football game. Tom was also a terrific artist. In fact, his cartoon exhibit is still on display here in [The Register-Herald] lobby. I was able to talk to him for a bit and reminisce while he was arranging the artwork on the walls. That was just last month. I’m very saddened to learn of his passing. Tom was a great coworker, a true gentleman and a great friend. I will miss him. I’m certain I can speak for all of Tom’s former Daily Telegraph colleagues and say that “Dr. Bone” will be dearly missed.”