WhoFest co-founder dies during festival in Irving

The co-founder of WhoFest, a fan event celebrating the long-running British sci-fi show Dr. Who, was found dead in his hotel room in Irving during this year’s festival.

When Ed Dravecky didn’t show up for a festival event Saturday, his girlfriend went to his room at the Westin D/FW and found him unresponsive, according to a report in the File 770 science fiction fan blog. He was rushed to the hospital, but ER staff was unable to resuscitate him, according to a family Facebook post included on the blog.

Dravecky, 47, also co-founded FenCon in Dallas in 2004 and was a past president of ORAC, the “Organized Rebel Adventurers Club” of Dallas/Ft. Worth, his Twitter profile says.

Dravecky, a dedicated fan of Doctor Who and MST3K, worked behind the scenes at some of North Texas’ most memorable science fiction and pop culture events, according to a Give Forward page. The donation page was set up to help pay for the funeral costs and transporting him home to Huntsville, Ala. There will be a separate memorial service for friends in Texas.

“Ed was as wise, hilarious, and dedicated to his interests as he was kind,” Mike Erickson, convention co-chair of WhoFest 3, said via e-mail. “(He was) an outstanding friend.”

This year’s WhoFest was the third annual event and it included three days of panels, guest appearances, autograph sesssions, gaming, cosplay and costume events.

This story was originally published April 25, 2016 at 8:05 PM with the headline "WhoFest co-founder dies during festival in Irving."