Captain Robert H.P. Dunn, USN CEC (Ret), 79, a communicant of the University Parish of Christ Son of Justice at the Chapel+Cultural Center in Troy, passed away on Monday, July 31, 2006 at the Eddy Heritage House in Troy following a long illness. Captain Dunn, whose career in the Navy as a civil engineer spanned 30 years, and his wife Patricia, married together for 55 years, raised a family of three while stationed in Europe, Japan, in the Pacific and along the east coast of the United States. After his retirement from the Navy in 1977, he taught core curriculum civil engineering courses for 20 years at his alma mater, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in the civil engineering department. Captain Dunn, the son of Edna Eltonhead Dunn and Charles A. Dunn, was born on September 11, 1926 in Philadelphia, Pa. He attended South Philadelphia High School, was accepted into the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., where he received a B.S. degree and was commissioned as an officer in 1948. At Annapolis, he received the nickname Rip from his fellow cadets. After a six month naval sea tour as a navigator aboard the USS Norris (DD 859), traveling from California to Tsingtao, China and back, attended RPI in Troy. He received an M.S. in civil engineering and became an officer with the Civil Engineering Corps of the Navy, also known as the Seabees. He met his wife, Patricia Curley Dunn in Troy at the time of their graduate studies. They married in Troy, began their first tour of duty together in London, England followed by tours of duty in Naples, Italy, Jacksonville, Fla., Quonset Point, R.I., Yokohama, Japan, Groton, Conn., Philadelphia, Pa., Vietnam, Washington, DC, Guam, and then back to Washington, DC. As a CEC officer, Captain Dunn was responsible for the master planning, development and logistics of bases and facilities here and abroad. Throughout his career, he was a member of various command staffs of the Navy. He earned a Bronze Star Medal for his distinguished service in the Vietnam War between 1967 and 1968. Captain Dunn is survived by his wife Patricia; eldest daughter, Marianna and partner Cindy Cady; son, Robert and his wife Melanie and youngest daughter, Patricia. The family extends a special and heartfelt thank you to Colleen Purcell and Brenda Williams for their friendship and loving care throughout the years. Visiting hours will be held on Thursday from 4 until 6:30 p.m. at the University Parish of Christ Son of Justice at the Chapel+Cultural Center, 2125 Burdett Avenue, Troy followed by a Mass of Christian Burial, which will be celebrated at 7 p.m. by the Reverend Edward Kacerguis. Interment, with full military honors, will be held in Arlington National Cemetery at a later time. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the University Parish of Christ Son of Justice at the Chapel+Cultural Center, 2125 Burdett Avenue, Troy, NY 12180 or to the Community Hospice of Rensselaer County, 295 Valley View Blvd., Rensselaer, NY, 12144 in memory of Captain Robert H.P. Dunn. For on-line guest registry, please visit www.parkerbrosmemorial.com.

Published in the Albany Times Union on 8/2/2006.