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By Rosemary Pollock
Beloved LDS Principal Succumbs to Cancer
LOGAN, UTAH -- Students, faculty, friends and family built a memorial
of flowers and teddy bears at the foot of the Logan High School
grizzly statue in honor the life of Allison Dunn, beloved principal,
teacher, wife, mother and friend. Dunn was diagnosed with breast
cancer in 1996, but by February, 2000 the cancer had spread to her
bones, liver and lungs. After a week of missing school, she declared
she wanted to go back to work. Her husband, Steve Dunn, drove her to
school and carried her up the stairs for her last day of work.
"The kids loved her. She had a special human relations skill of
bringing people together, so the staff and faculty at Logan High grew
to love her very quickly, " said Logan Superintendent Allen Lowe. She
was an accomplished teacher who had her roots in Logan.
She attended Logan public schools as a child and adult. "She was a
sponge for knowledge and would weigh facts with a sensitive moral
compass," Steve said. She graduated magna cum laude with a major in
English and minors in psychology, French and dance. She thought of
becoming an attorney but fell into teaching where she was most at
home.
Life wasn't always easy for Allison. She and Steve lost their first
infant son, Steven Jonathan, to a congenital brain defect. Twenty
years into her marriage, she learned her husband was a homosexual.
The couple successfully came to terms with their marriage.
Allison never hid her battle with cancer from her faculty or
students. When she suffered the ravaging effects of chemotherapy, she
wore scarves. She cheerfully attended school musicals, football games
and expressed her hope for the Class of 2000 in a commencement
address.
"She recently said she felt she had found herself. She was just not
ready to die," Steve said. Dunn's last day of school lasted three
hours. She returned home but did not recover.
"This whole community loved Allison Dunn," said Logan High counselor
and wrestling coach Jim Peacock. "The greatest accomplishment she had
was her capacity to love."
Source:
Principal's life her legacy
Deseret News 31Mar01 P2
By Jennifer Toomer-Cook: Deseret News staff writer
Memorial planned for 12:30 today at Logan High School
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