Hundreds of mourners packed the aisles of St. Rita Church in
Alexandria last week to pay last respects to Nancy Dunning,
the slain wife of Alexandria Sheriff James H. Dunning.
Dunning, 56, was a prominent real estate agent for McEnearney
Associates in Old Town Alexandria. Described as a pillar of
the community, she was a trusted friend and a valuable
resource to many who had come to know her through her work
and service throughout the area. Recognized among peers for
her honesty and integrity, Dunning was especially popular
among young couples looking for homes, and helped establish
the community as a true neighborhood. She was an active
member of the Del Ray Civic Association, a columnist for the
Alexandria Gazette and a supporter of community arts
and education. U.S. Rep. James Moran (D), a family friend,
said Dunning "pulled people together and made the community a
family. "Her death is a tremendous loss," he said. According
to reports, Dunning was found dead at the bottom of a
staircase inside the family?s home on West Mount Ida Avenue
shortly after noon on Dec. 5. When she failed to show up for
a lunch meeting with her husband and son, Christopher, who
worked with her at McEnearney Associates, they returned home
separately looking for her. When the police and paramedics
arrived, Dunning was pronounced dead. Father James Walsh,
S.J., a long-time family friend from Boston was the principal
celebrant and homilist at a Mass of remembrance attended by
family, friends, colleagues, City Councilors and state
lawmakers. "We have all died this death," said Father Walsh,
who knew Nancy Dunning for more than three decades and
married the Dunnings 28 years ago. "Nancy was a gift ?
directly or indirectly to each of us here today," he said.
"As the pain recedes, we will feel her life as a gift."
Acknowledging the feelings of shock and anger that accompany
sudden and violent death, Father Walsh told mourners that it
was important to grieve. "We must entertain the grief and
anger? But when the grief and anger come knocking at the door
months later, it is not all that is there. We can also listen
to the voice of hope. "Despite the horror of her sudden
death, Nancy?s life is a gift?. Today we return the gift to
God. Let us honor Nancy Dunning?s gifts to us, her great
love, as we continue our own experience them in our own life
journeys." Father Denis M. Donahue, pastor of St. Rita Parish
where Nancy Dunning frequently attended Mass, and Father John
C. Cregan, pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish, where she was
a registered parishioner, concelebrated the liturgy. A
Connecticut native, Dunning came from a family of 12. In
addition to her husband and two children, Elizabeth and
Christopher, both in their twenties, family relatives
occupied several rows of reserved seating in the front of the
church. She moved to the area with her husband in the
mid-1970s. Her sister, Patricia Moran, a member of Blessed
Sacrament Parish, gave one of two eulogies at the end of the
hour-long ceremony. "I could spend all day telling you my
Nancy stories," she said. "But you know them all: the honest
Nancy, the dedicated Nancy, the courageous Nancy, the humble
Nancy, the unpretentious Nancy, kind Nancy, the listening
Nancy, truthful Nancy, funny Nancy, the organized Nancy, the
not-fancy Nancy, the Nancy who never gave up on anyone, who
truly cared for everyone. "We will all thank you from the
bottom of our broken hearts. We will carry on, we will never
forget you." In a second eulogy, Elizabeth Dunning remembered
her mother as someone who "loved to laugh," whose joy and
optimism permeated her life, and who had a tremendous
capacity for friendship. "Mom made it clear that every day
had something good abut it," she said. "It did not take much
to be my Mom?s friend. She wanted ? to know people, so she
lit them up when she talked." Following the funeral, many
went directly to a reception at Jack Taylor?s Toyota
Dealership in Alexandria sponsored by Jack Taylor, family
friend and owner of the dealership. Photo collages and
remembrances of Nancy Dunning?s life filled several tables in
the packed showroom. In lieu of flowers, the family asked
that donations be sent to one of Nancy Dunning?s favorite
charities, the Higher Achievement Program Scholarship Fund of
Alexandria or Catholic Relief Services in Baltimore, Md. At a
news conference last Friday, family and friends announced a
reward fund for information leading to the arrest and
indictment of a suspect in Dunning's death. Former Alexandria
City Council member Lonnie C. Rich, a family friend, read a
brief statement from James Dunning. The sheriff thanked those
who have supported the family in his first public statement
since his wife?s death and expressed his gratitude for the
overwhelming response to the reward fund, already at $70,000.
"You have been a tremendous source of comfort for us,"
Dunning said. "I asked Lonnie to set up this fund and am
overwhelmed by the response so far. So many friends have
contributed, and that is another testament to Nancy."
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