Ronald Holland Dunn

Ron married his college Sweetheart and life long best friend Verona Lambert in Florence, SC on August 17, 1958 and celebrated their 65th anniversary in 2023.

Ron graduated high school from Baltimore Polytechnic Institute and went right to work for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. He attended the University of South Carolina and 10 years later, with responsibilities for a wife, 3 sons, a house, and a full time job, received his BS Engineering degree from Johns Hopkins University, Evening College. He was a licensed Professional Engineer, of which he was very proud. He dedicated his entire career to railway civil engineering and had assignments in 45 states, DC and 6 provinces, including the Washington Metro where he was Chief Engineer - Yards, Shops & Track for 7 years during Metro’s critical initial design and construction phases, in addition to major railway projects in Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit, Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver BC, and other locations.

In 1984, after having worked for a major railroad and 3 of the largest engineering firms in the country, he started his own very successful railway consulting engineering firm and among his many clients, had assignments for CSX, Norfolk Southern, Conrail, Union Pacific, U.S. Department of Justice, Department of Interior, City & County of Honolulu, County of Maui, and U.S. Naval Facilities Engineering Command at Pearl Harbor. He was widely recognized for his engineering expertise and testified in railway design, construction and accident cases all across the U.S. and Canada as an expert witness in those matters and remained active in his profession until recently.

He was active in numerous engineering societies, some of which included the American Society of Civil Engineers, Institute of Transportation Engineers and National Academy of Forensic Engineers, all of which elected him to Fellow; and the Canadian Society of Civil Engineering and American Railway Engineering & Maintenance of Way Association, where he was a Life Member. He was a Board Certified Diplomate Forensic Engineer and also a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers and Society of American Military Engineers.

For many years he was an active member of 8 different national committees in national engineering societies. In 1972 he toured railroad and rail transit facilities in Japan at the invitation and expense of the Japanese Railway Civil Engineering Association and in France in 1988 at the invitation and expense of French National Railroads and the Paris Transport Authority.

Ron traveled extensively with his work but especially enjoyed traveling with Verona to places that included Hong Kong, China, Japan, Canada, most Caribbean Islands, Panama, England, Germany, France, Spain, Monaco, Italy, and most of the U.S., especially Hawaii. Ron, a Williamsburg resident since 1991, was an active member of Williamsburg United Methodist Church where he served a term on the Finance Committee and since 1992 served as an usher; an active member of Williamsburg Kiwanis Club and the Ford’s Colony Roads & Project Maintenance Committee, and other activity clubs there. Ron was an active Republican and a founding member of the Colonial Area Republican Men's Association.

Ron and Verona also were generous supporters of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation and the APVA.

Ron was preceded in death by their son, Ronald H. Dunn, Jr. and is survived by his wife, Verona and their two sons, David R. Dunn and his wife Michelle, of Covington, VA and Brian W. Dunn, of Denver, CO and by one grandson, Cody Lee Dunn, of Denver, CO.

A memorial service will be held on Thursday, February 29th at 1:00 PM at Williamsburg United Methodist Church, followed by a reception in the Church Fellowship Hall.

If desired memoriams may be sent to Williamsburg United Methodist Church, 500 Jamestown Rd., Williamsburg, VA 23185.