Richard E. Dunne, Jr.

obituary Hartford Courant, July 27, 2008

DUNNE, Richard E., Jr.

Richard E. Dunne, Jr., 84, born in Hartford and a resident of Harwich Port, MA., for the past 28 years, died peacefully in his sleep on Friday (July 25, 2008). Dick met his wife of 59 years, Jean Alice O'Leary Dunne at the old Belmont Hotel in West Harwich, when Jean was 14 and their families were vacationing. He often said that meeting her was the best thing that ever happened to him. While Hartford was where he grew up as a child, had deep family roots and where he in turn raised his own family and engaged in a successful business career, Cape Cod was the place to which he always came back and where he and Jean ultimately retired. Dick graduated from Kingswood School in West Hartford in 1942 and from Harvard College in 1947 (Class of 1946) where he was a member of the Spee Club and Hasty Pudding Institute of 1770. As did many members of his class, Dick left to join the war effort after his freshman year and serves as Lieutenant in the US Navy. After his service, he returned to complete school and graduate with his class. He worked in the insurance brokerage business after Harvard and retired as Executive Vice President of Alexander & Alexander, a multinational insurance brokerage firm, later merged into Marsh, Inc. At Alexander & Alexander, he was a member of the President's Council and Summit Club, and national practice leader for the health care industry and a specialist in banking and finance. He was active over many years in many civic and industry organizations both in Hartford and Harwich Port, including among others the St. Francis Hospital Association, where he served as President and Director, and where his father, Richard E. Dunne, M.D., had been Chief of Surgery. He was also a director at the Connecticut Hospital Association, Visiting Nurse Association of Cape Cod, Visiting Nurse Association of Hartford, 1000 Corporation, Capital Area Health Consortium and a member at various times of the Insurance Commitee, Planning Board, and Board of Appeals, Town of Harwich. He was a member for many years of the Hartford Club, the Hartford Golf Club, Oyster Harbors Club, and the Harvard Club of Cape Cod. Dick was the oldest of six children of Dorothy Burns Dunne and Richard E. Dunne, M.D. He was predeceased by his siblings, Virginia Finley, Harriet Hutchinson, Stephen Dunne, and John Gregory Dunne, and his survived by his brother, Dominick Dunne, his brother-in-law, Frank Finley, and sisters-in-law, Laure Dunne and Joan Didion. He is survived by his wife, Jean and his children, Tony of Orleans, Pam of Harwich, and Mark of Cohasset. His eldest son, Richard E. Dunne, III., of Baltimore, died in 1998. Many nieces and nephews, and his grandchildren, Anna, Phoebe, Adrian, and Isabelle Dunne and Grace and Miles Boyle, also survive him.

Calling hours will be held at Doane Beal & Ames Funeral Home in West Harwich from 6-8 p.m. on Monday, July 28. Funeral services will take place on Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 1 p.m. at Holy Trinity Church in West Harwich. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Harwich Fire Ambulance Fund, St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center of Hartford, Cape Cod Healthcare Foundation of Cape Cod Hospital, or Visiting Nurses Association of eihter Cape Cod or Hartford.

• Residence: 1930 - West Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut, USA
• Race: White
  • Reference: 1930 United States Federal Census - SmartCopy: Mar 20 2017, 5:21:51 UTC