Monday, October 26, 2020
Chuck Dunn has been larger than life to me since I met him over 60 years ago. That’s not saying we were contemporaries; not in the least. That is saying that he was a man to look up to, someone to count on when a friend was needed. Most of all, he was the Father and Husband to the neighbors I grew up living next door to in Southgate. You see Chuck Dunn was a man with influence. He was a former Councilman in the city of Southgate (among other public servant positions he held throughout his adult life) and a very good ally to have, whether it was in the political arena or just to have on your side as a friend. I always admired the Dunn’s. Chuck and Shirley were always there for our family. Shirley and my Mother were/are the best of friends and Chuck had a way of greeting my Father, Gus, as “George”. I always figured that was a private joke between two good friends and next-door neighbors, and so I never asked why. As my Father aged and toward the end of his life, there was Chuck still “looking out” for him when he had misplaced his car keys or needed some help.
Back to his influence. When we were kids, Chuck would hire the neighborhood boys to go door to door and pass out political material for the candidates he was supporting. Former Mayor Berklich of Southgate, Michigan State Representative Tom Anderson (who my old high school is now named after) and the late United States Congressman from the downriver area, John Dingell are the ones I most remember, but there were many. And for a dollar or two a day, that was pretty good money for a kid in the 60’s. A few years ago, before Congressman Dingell retired from Congress, I had the opportunity to be on the same flight as he and his wife, now Congresswoman Debbie Dingell. As we were getting off the plane, I introduced myself to the Congressman and told him of the story of how Chuck Dunn hired us as kids to pass out his campaign literature. He smiled at me and said, “Mr. Wellinger, Chuck Dunn has been a great friend to me. Without Chuck’s support, I would not have been as successful in my political career. We all could use more friends like Chuck Dunn”. Now hearing that from a long-term Congressman gave me a cause to smile. That just reinforced how I had thought about Chuck all these years, but never could quite understand the significance, until then. Not much longer after that happened, I was in the old neighborhood and stopped by to see Chuck & Shirley. I told them the story of what the Congressman had said, and Chuck was quite humble in hearing his praise.
Congressman Dingell was certainly right about having Chuck Dunn as a friend. I remember he went out of his way to help me out of a situation as a teenager when I got into some adolescent mischief. I thanked him at the time, but later in life really became to appreciate that act of kindness and friendship, because he didn’t have to do it. He just did it. And later when I was attending college and needed a summer job, he called in a favor for me and got me a job two summers in a row on the Wayne County Road Commission. So, Chuck’s influence helped me greatly in many ways.
Now that Chuck is gone, he certainly will not be forgotten. To Shirley, Darlene, Debbie and Steve and the extended Dunn family, I want to let you know how deeply saddened I am but also how deeply grateful I am to have known Chuck, be his friend and hopefully lived up to be a person that has been worthy of his friendship and influence. He was a great man who deserved to be admired and I know he was also a great husband, father, grandfather and neighbor. We’ll miss you Charlie. Thanks for the memories from Kennebec and beyond. Rest in peace.
Richard Wellinger
