Glenn Charles Dumke

Glenn Charles Dumke was born August 31, 1933 in Milwaukee, WI, the only child of Walter (Pete) and Norma Dumke and passed away on December 16, 2024 in his home at Highland Springs Memory Care in Dallas, TX at the age of 91.

He is survived by his wife of 71 years, Joan Dumke, children Debra (Steve) Thompson of Garland, TX, Brian (Denise) Dumke of Spring Hill, TN, and Lynn (Todd) Park of Garland, TX. Grandchildren Dr. Lauren (Dr. Brent) Shell of Leominster, MA, Travis (Caroline) Dumke of Franklin, TN, Breanna (Michael) Fay of Nashville, TN, and Jordan (Austin) Dicharry of Dallas, TX. Great grandchildren Rhett, Brooks, and Sutton Dumke and Dorothy Fay. He is preceded in death by his parents, grandson Tyler Dumke, and in-laws Frank and Emily Jarmuz.

Glenn was a multi-talented athlete, lettering in football, basketball, and track at North Division High School in Milwaukee, earning first team All-City honors in football, playing fullback, wide receiver, and defensive end, as well as being the team’s punter. In addition to his accomplishments on the field, he also served as the vice president of the student council, and was a member of the student court, booster club, and choir.

Upon graduation in 1951, Glenn attended The University of Arizona on a football scholarship. As the result of an unexpected coaching change during his freshman year, he transferred to The University of Wisconsin, where he continued his football journey. After dislocating his hip twice in a short period of time, he realized football was not in his future, and with the country in the midst of the Korean War, he felt it was his patriotic duty to serve his country and joined the Navy.

Prior to leaving for the Navy, he was introduced to Joan by his father who owned a filling station next to a custard shop where she was working. She would bring Pete a custard every day, hoping to run into Glenn. Thus began their courtship. While on a weekend leave from Great Lakes Navy Training Center on February 21, 1953, they were married.

With basic training behind him, and with a new bride by his side, he spent the majority of his Navy career in the Washington DC area serving as a corpsman at the U.S. Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, MD and U.S. Naval Proving Ground, Dahlgren, VA. He was released from active military service in 1956, and served in the Navy Reserves until his honorable discharge in 1960.

After fulfilling his full-time military commitment, he and Joan, along with their infant daughter Debi, moved back to the Milwaukee area, and he subsequently accepted a job with General Motors subsidiary AC/Delco. Soon after, Brian was born, and several years later Lynn completed their family. In 1980, after 23 years with Delco, where he worked his way up the management ladder, he was offered an opportunity to join Electrospace Systems, Inc. in Richardson, TX. In 1989 when ESI was bought out by Chrysler Technologies Airborne Systems (later to be merged with Raytheon), Glenn was transferred to Waco, TX where he advanced to the Director of Purchasing until his retirement in 1997.

Glenn then filled his days with home improvement projects (primarily painting, he LOVED to paint), golf (where he perfected his colorful language), bowling (with a high game of 299!) and buying new cars. This dated back to his time at GM when one of the perks of the job was a new car every year. Unfortunately, that habit didn’t end when that benefit did! Need tires? Time for a new car! Realize the car you just bought didn’t have a navigation system, better take it back for one that did (even though he could never figure out how to use it). Go to the store for a bottle of wine and come home with a new car! These are true stories that we all used to tease him about!!

When he ran out of ways to enhance his back yard and its view of the pond and adjacent Lake Waco Golf Club, in 2000, he and Joan moved back to the Dallas area and built a new home overlooking Firewheel Golf Park where he spent MANY hours (mostly in the heat of the day) keeping his yard meticulously manicured and his home a showplace. When the upkeep became too much, he and Joan moved to Highland Springs Senior Living Community where they resided in an independent living apartment until their move into memory care earlier this year after his vascular dementia diagnosis.

As many will attest, Glenn was the life of any party, quick with a colorful joke in his repertoire, and always up for a toast with his favorite Tanqueray martini, most starting with, “to make a long story short”, which they weren’t, going into mind numbing detail! After 91 years, it’s time for us to raise a glass to you for a life well lived. Here’s to you Glenn. Cheers!

A Celebration of Life for Glenn will be held on Friday, December 27th from 4:00-7:00 PM at Highland Springs Senior Living Community, 8000 Frankford Road, Dallas, TX in the Willow Ridge Community Room. Please park in the visitor’s parking lot to the right of the circle drive and enter through doors 29 or 30 from the walkway. The guard at the front gate can also direct you.