Michael Robert Dunn

Our beloved son, brother, uncle, cousin, nephew and friend, Michael Robert Dunn, passed away peacefully in his sleep to be with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, with whom he had a personal relationship.

Mike was born in Orange, CA and raised in Santa Ana. A Santa Ana High graduate (Class of 1976), Mike loved street motorcycles, dirt bikes and anything that would go fast. He enjoyed hanging out with his friends, always stayed close to his family, loved attending speedway motorcycle races, being with his German Sheppard Sandy and rooting for his favorite team, the world champion Dodgers. He was also a world-class prankster. He lived the last several years of his life in Apple Valley, where he owned a home.

In this crazy world of materialism and keeping up with the Joneses, Mike lived a humble, simple, old-fashioned life, caring for others and experiencing delight in seeing family and friends, and only living in the fast lane when it came to riding his motorcycles.

For many years, Mike took care of his girlfriend, Kelly, who was in hospice before she passed away. It takes a special person to care of someone with myriad medical conditions and doing it with a smile on your face and joy in your heart, and that was Mike. He treated everyone with dignity, respect and love. He paid attention to you, remembered your troubles, and would give you the last cent in his pocket. His generosity was front and center. At times when his family thought he didn’t have a dime to his name, Mike always made sure everyone received a special Christmas gift from him.

Mike was always kind, charitable, positive, thoughtful, affable, loving, gentle, humorous, conversational, pleasant and nonjudgmental. He loved to smile and laugh. And, yes, in his early years, he loved to imbibe. All in his family were extremely proud of him for living a life of sobriety in the second half of his life, spanning more than three decades.

At his jobs, Mike was dedicated and loyal. He worked tirelessly even when it was nearly impossible because of his physical ailments. He was always committed to the task at hand.

These days, loyalty seems to be long-gone, but Mike was a shining example of what it truly meant and we will always remember him for that.

For those with a favorite thing, Mike’s clearly was motorcycles. In his early years, he would draw them on paper in fine detail and be so proud of them. He talked endlessly about the 1970 Bruce Brown film documentary “On Any Sunday,” starring Steve McQueen and Malcolm Smith, his boyhood hero. Among his great unexpected joys was when the family moved to Olive Lane in Santa Ana in 1971, located near a flood control by the freeways and railroad tracks, where many of the neighbors and locals would ride their motorcycles. It included a half oval dirt track at the end of flood control and remained that way for years until the expansion of the freeways did away with it and transformed the area into what is now called the Orange Crush. One of our neighbors across the street even worked for Bates Leathers, a company that made motorcycle pants and gear and Mike thought that was extremely cool. He had many motorcycles, loved dirt bike riding and even competed. He enjoyed speedway motorcycle racing and felt inspired to talk about “throwing it sideways.” He was notorious for popping wheels on the street and giving his siblings rides to the beach and around town. His brother Richard said he’ll never forget riding on the back of his powerful street bike going south on the 55 freeway and only holding on to the leather strap on the seat without wearing a helmet. It seemed they were going pretty fast, so his younger brother peeked over Mike’s shoulder and noticed the speedometer showing 100 mph. He never let Mike take him for a ride again.

Mike had a deeply generous, caring, friendly and loving spirit. His father, Robert, said he “had nine lives” as he survived and overcame numerous obstacles, accidents and injuries. “I can’t believe he’s still here,” his father once said.

As a big brother and oldest of six children, Mike paved the way in life, and his siblings watched, listened and learned. They all enjoyed playing as kids, going on camping trips and Mike was always the groundbreaker when it came to school, sports and scouts. Mike experienced many fun and adventurous excursions growing up, including with the Boy Scouts, and one of his favorite trips was scuba diving and hunting for abalone off Catalina Island.

In his early 20s, and after he purchased a condominium in Anaheim Hills, his brother Richard was a senior in high school and they often double dated. Mike eventually married Debbie. Mike was someone you could count on for a good laugh. He was always playing tricks and gags growing up. He loved to startle and scare his younger siblings with a loud boo after hiding behind a bathroom door. He was notorious for that and no one particularly liked it, but he laughed and laughed and always got a big kick out of it. That was Mike. He loved doing it!

Mike is survived by his father Robert Dunn, sisters Kathryn and Beverly and brothers Richard, Jeffrey and Timothy, as well as more than 30 nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins and great nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his mother, Janet, and nephew Julian.