Thomas Joseph Dunn, III, age 57, of Estate Elizabeth, St. Thomas passed away Monday evening at his home after a prolonged battle with cancer. Dunn, born in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, was a long time resident of St. Thomas where he resided since 1980. He was known to one and all as “Tom” and upon his death was on leave from Innovative Telephone Company, where he served as Director of Public Relations.
"I had the fortune to work with Tom early in his St. Thomas career when he had the restaurant, The Green Parrot." said St. Thomas attorney Tom Bolt. "Later we worked at the Legislature together on a number of pieces of economic development legislation. Tom was also a member of the Rotary Club of St. Thomas II. You could say that Tom ‘pushed the envelope’. He always challenged us to do our very best." Bolt said.
Dunn graduated from the University of Illinois in 1972 where he was an ardent civil rights activist, participating in freedom rides to Mississippi and Louisiana. He later attended the UCLA School of Business.
Upon moving to St. Thomas he served as President of the Green Parrott Company which operated an award winning restaurant at the Magens Point Resort.
Tom Dunn later worked for three different senators in the Legislature of the Virgin Islands including Senators Lorraine L. Berry, Adlah “Foncie” Donastorg, and Roosevelt St.C. David. When he was Chief Researcher for Senator David, Tom facilitated drafting 54 bills, 24 of which were signed into law.
He also served as Executive Director of the Virgin Islands Bureau of Health Insurance and Medical Assistance under Governor Alexander A. Farrelly and Assistance Commissioner of the Virgin Islands Department of Public Works in Governor Turnbull’s Administration.
Dunn was a principal with Dr. Alfred O. Heath and other Virgin Islanders in Caribbean Health Care, a company developed to standardize medical care and drug formularies for Haitian hospitals and other clinical care facilities.
Dunn was active in a number of community organizations and served eight terms as a board member of the Rotary Club of St. Thomas II, three terms as President of COAST, four terms as a board member on the St. Thomas-St. John Hotel Association and Vice Chairman for six consecutive years of the Virgin Islands Health Planning Council. He also has served as a member of the Virgin Islands Domestic Violence Coordinating Council, the Virgin Islands Resource Center for the Disabled, Virgin Islands Project Safe Neighborhoods, Child Abuse Task Force and the St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce. He also served on the Advisory Board of The Virgin Islands Daily News.
He is survived by his wife, Jeanette Roasio Dunn of St. Thomas; father, Thomas Joseph Dunn, II of Maple Valley, Washington; sisters, Moira Dunn of Maple Valley, Washington, and Barbara Cunningham of Hawaii; and sisters in law, Adrienne Roasio and Leah Anne Roasio of New York, New York.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in memory of Tom to the St. Thomas Humane Society, Post Office Box 8150, St. Thomas, VI 00801.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, November 11, 2006 at 10:00AM at the St. Thomas Reformed Church. All funeral arrangements are by Davis Funeral Home, 774-1464.