Ronald Dunn

Ronald Ulice Dunn, 68, formerly of Memphis, Tennessee died November 21, 2011 in Nashville, Tennessee. Mr. Dunn was born on March 8, 1943 in Vallejo, California to the late Marvin U. & Nellie Malott Dunn. He was a member of Germantown Baptist Church when he and wife Betty lived here in Memphis. Ronald U. Dunn worked in all facets of water resources engineering in a professional career that spanned 45 years. He was a registered professional engineer in both Tennessee and Arkansas. Shortly after receiving a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering degree from the University of Arkansas, Ronnie began work with the US Army Corps of Engineers, first serving as a construction engineer building the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation Project. After moving to Memphis to work with the Memphis District of the Corps of Engineers, he earned a Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Memphis, and spent some 35 years serving in various design, management, and leadership positions until his retirement as Chief, Design Branch, in 1999, including serving a brief period as Chief, Engineering Division. Though the complete list of projects on which he worked is too vast to mention, notable projects which he led included the Mississippi River Levees Project, St. Johns Bayou-New Madrid Floodway, Missouri, Project, and Helena Harbor, Arkansas. He also assisted in several disaster recovery efforts following major Mississippi River floods and Gulf of Mexico hurricanes. During his US Army Corps of Engineers career, he was the recipient of numerous citations, awards, and medals. Additionally, he was elected into membership in the Arkansas Academy of Civil Engineering, among the highest honors to be received by University of Arkansas engineering graduates. Following retirement, he continued his work in water resources, first as a consultant, then a senior technical expert for ARCADIS U.S., one of the world’s leading design and engineering firms, where he played a major role in planning, designing, and constructing hurricane protection for the greater New Orleans area following Hurricane Katrina. Through his life-long professional efforts in these water resources activities throughout the lower Mississippi River Valley, many lives have and will continue to be saved, and public and personal property protected. He was preceded in death by his brother-in-law Dallis Alexander. Mr. Dunn is survived by his wife Betty Alexander Dunn; daughter Julie (Rick) Stephenson; granddaughters Olivia & Lillian Stephenson; sister Carma (Gerald) Feagin; brother Donald (Kay) Dunn; sister-in-law Glenda Alexander; nieces Lisa Feagin Williams and Jennifer Dunn (Brian) Painter; nephews Lynn (Kristie) Feagin, Keith Alexander and Stephen (Annette) Alexander; great-nieces Jessica Williams & Lauren Feagin; and great-nephews Zach Feagin, Bryan Williams and Robert Alexander. The family will receive guests and friends on Friday, Nobember 25 from 5PM – 8PM and funeral services will be on Saturday, November 26 beginning at 10AM all at Memphis Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens on Poplar Avenue. Burial will follow in Memphis Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens Cemetery (formerly Memory Hill Gardens Cemetery). Any memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Online condolences and floral offerings may be made by visiting www.memphisfuneralhome.net