John
Dunne,
facilities
director
for
local
charity
Food
&
Friends,
died
of
a
heart
attack
soon
after
arriving
at
work
on
Thursday,
Aug.
28.
He
was
42.
Dunne,
who
was
gay,
was
born
on
Oct.
12,
1965,
and
grew
up
outside
of
Chicago.
He
initially
moved
to
Washington
14
years
ago
and
settled
here
permanently
after
living
for
a
period
of
time
in
Denver.
Dunne
was
active
in
a
number
of
local
gay
clubs
and
organizations
and
had
been
a
member
of
Alcoholics
Anonymous
since
Sept.
19,
1997.
Dunne
also
began
working
at
Food
&
Friends
in
1997,
where
he
participated
in
numerous
AIDS
Rides
and
was
instrumental
in
opening
the
organization’s
new
facility
in
Northeast
Washington
in
2004.
Two
of
Dunne’s
favorite
activities
were
cooking
and
camping.
His
friends
experienced
the
intersection
of
both
when
he
would
buy
hundreds
of
dollars
of
food
from
Costco
and
host
camping
trips
out
of
his
camper.
“You
could
always
count
on
John
to
organize
an
event
for
his
friends,”
said
Dunne’s
friend
Joe
Manes.
In
addition
to
a
wide
circle
of
friends,
Dunne
is
survived
by
his
parents,
John
and
Jean
Dunne,
his
sister
Jennifer
and
her
husband
Kevin
Dillon,
his
cousin
Kathy
Keller
and
six
much-loved
nieces
and
nephews.
A
memorial
was
held
on
Thursday,
Sept.
4
at
Food
&
Friends.
In
lieu
of
flowers,
donations
may
be
sent
to
the
organization
at
210
Riggs
Rd.,
NE,
Washington
D.C.,
20011.
The
following comments were posted by our readers and were
not edited by the Washington Blade. We ask that you
treat others with respect; any post deemed offensive will
be removed.
Ron Vogel on 9/6/0812:31 PM:
John was a man of many hats. Besides his passion for helping those affected by HIV/AIDS and his dedication to AA and the recovery community, he was also Colonel of Men of Discipline, a local gay men's leather fraternity, for the past two years. As a leader in the leather community, he brought his organizing talents to many events, most recently the upcoming Black Rose 2008 weekend. His legacy will be the caring and support he gave to many close friends and to the gay community at large. We will miss him in the leather community, as brother and dear friend.
