Alice Jeanine Dunn

Alice Jeanine Dunn was born in Kansas City, Kansas on Wednesday, February 15, 1933.  All her tears were forever washed away on Saturday, September 14, 2019.

She is preceded in death by her daughter, Jeanine Elterman, who died in 1992; and her husband, Verd Dunn, who died in 2015. She is survived by her four daughters, Sandi, Deanna, Carol, and Eileen, along with her 14 grandchildren; and 15 great-grandchildren.

Although she was not born at a time when academic achievement was expected or encouraged in young women, she was a successful student, graduating high school at the age of 15, and brilliant in so many respects.  She would go on to lead a varied and reflective life, punctuated by her love of her family.  In 1960, Alice married Verd Dunn, blending a family of her three daughters and his two daughters. Around this time, Alice taught herself to drive – a skill that would prove necessary when she taught her many (underaged) grandchildren to drive years later! From her time as a keypunch operator for TransWorld Airlines in Philadelphia, to serving as the first female deputy for the Sherrif’s department of T or C, NM - a badge of honor she proudly wore until her death. Alice’s eclectic work life helped shape her truly reflective and introspective nature.  It wasn’t until the age of 44, with the encouragement of a local art teacher, that Alice discovered her passion and talent for painting.  The breathtaking wonder and beauty of the landscapes and skies she rendered reflected her own thoughtful introspection and spiritual strength.  A spiritual strength she would perpetually utilize as a reliable “prayer warrior.”  Even when her physical body failed her, it was evident her soul remained unbroken and her walk with Jesus just as steady as ever.

One highlight in her life was at the old Hoffmantown Baptist Church on Wyoming, where she became a staple of the church’s live nativity scene at Christmas.  She played Mary alongside her husband’s Joseph. The manger scene included many of her grandchildren as angels and shepherds.  As her grandchildren grew from Christmas shepherds, Alice remained a beacon of love and determined support of her flock.  She deeply loved her children and grandchildren and would self-identify as Grandma before any other title. She often even sported her own “Grandma Dunn” team jacket that matched her grandchildren’s team jacket.  Even as her children and grandchildren aged and dispersed from Albuquerque, she remained fiercely loyal and committed to each of them.  Though the final lap of Alice’s race involved suffering from vascular dementia, a disease that stole much of her identity, she still fought the good fight, finished the race, kept the faith and the very core of her being – a faithful Christian, and a compassionate, contemplative, and loving mother and grandmother – endured until the very end.   Indeed, even in the hours leading up to her death, when the dementia robbed of her physical sight and the ability to communicate, she teared up when she heard her favorite old hymnals.  On Saturday, September 14, 2019, she heard something else:  “well done, good and faithful servant.”

Friends may visit Thursday, September 19, 2019, 9:30 a.m. at Chester T. French Memorial Mausoleum Chapel, 924 Menaul Blvd NE.  The Funeral Service will follow at 10:30 a.m.