Alan Gerald Dunn died peacefully at home on January 27, 2025, aged 97. Alan was born July 18, 1927, in Dubuque County, Iowa to Elmer and Mary Clare Dunne. Alan was the fifth child of eight and is preceded in death by his seven siblings: Paul, Orland, Donald, Blanche, Glenn, Mary Gladys, and Patricia.

After graduating from high school, Alan started college at Loras College, then served in the Army from 1946 – 1948 in the 11th Airborne Division, Sendai, Japan. Alan joined the Reserves and was later called to serve during the Korean War in 1950. Of the 2700 soldiers on the ship, General Walker, headed to Korea, the 27 who knew how to type (including Alan) were sent instead to General HQ Far East Tokyo. Alan was in the 71st Signal Service Battalion where he worked as a Clerk-Typist, Jeep Driver, and Rifleman. Alan contracted tuberculosis while overseas, returning to the U.S. for medical care, and left the service in 1951. Alan served in the Air Force from 1957 – 1959, serving in the 3133rd Transportation Squadron in France. Alan graduated with a bachelor’s from Loras College in 1961 and moved to Washington, DC to work at the Civil Service Commission and then the Federal Highway Administration, Department of Transportation until 1990.

Alan met his beloved wife Mary Loretta Ketterer in 1962, and they married on May 25, 1963. The happy couple welcomed five children, Kathel, Dan, Mary Clare, Tim, and Joy; and three grandchildren from their daughter Joy and her husband John: Colleen, Maggie, and Birdie. Mary Loretta preceded him in death in 2012.

Alan was a lifelong football fan in good times and bad, though 2024 was a particularly good year, when he watched with joy as the Commanders made football fun again, with their improbable and spectacular playoff run; and Notre Dame’s victories in both the Orange and Sugar Bowls. Though Alan spent most of his adult life on the East Coast, he also held a spot in his heart for the Chicago Bears (“Once a Bear, always a Bear”), the Packers (a nod to his son in Wisconsin), and the Chicago White Sox.

Alan and Loretta were practicing Catholics their whole lives. Alan and Loretta led a prayer group at Queen of Apostles in Alexandria, VA, for many years and both later became third order Augustinians. Alan and Loretta were active in the charismatic renewal of the Catholic church, emphasizing a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit. Alan prayed daily, including the rosary, and Evening Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours.

In addition to his children and grandchildren, Alan is survived by his in-laws, Barbara Neubauer, and Andrew Ketterer, their children and grandchildren; and the children and grandchildren of his deceased brother-in-law, Richard Ketterer; and the children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren of his siblings. Alan is survived by his brother-in-law Freddie Powers and predeceased by in-laws Jean Dunne and Laverne Dunne. Alan is also predeceased by his daughter Kathel’s partner, Cheryl Chisnell.

In lieu of flowers, the family invites you to join in the Catholic Church’s Jubilee Year practice of forgiving debts, financial or otherwise.