Rodney Wayne Dunn

He grew up in Gadsden with his parents, Howard and Wanza, and his brother, Bob, where he loved riding his bike, playing basketball and football, and fishing. In high school, he was voted the “Student with the Greatest Desire to Learn”.

When he was in high school, a beautiful young girl named Valarie Brewer moved in next door, but when his mother suggested dating her, he said she was “a little punk”. But one night, Mr. Steve Brewer was involved in a serious car accident, and Rodney drove “the little punk” to the hospital to be with her father. After a long night, he drove her home and they stayed up talking in the driveway until 4AM. The rest is history. They fell in love and became pen pals, writing love letters back and forth while “Hot Rod” attended Auburn University.

Rodney excelled in school and was invited to join Phi Kappa Phi for being in the top 5% of his class. While at Auburn, he went to hear Josh McDowell speak and made the most important decision of his life - giving his heart to Jesus. He earned a degree in computer science with a minor in mathematics. He was offered a job with IBM but turned it down and decided to go into full-time ministry.

In 1972, he married Valarie and they joined Campus Crusade for Christ and traveled to Colorado, California and Indiana, learning the art of evangelism. They moved to Knoxville, TN where they had their first of 5 sons, Jonathan. The couple then moved to Memphis where they had their second child, Shawn. Then they moved to Fort Worth, TX where Rodney enrolled at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. In 1981 after the birth of his 3rd child, Timothy, he got his masters in Religious Education with a focus on discipleship and spiritual growth.

Rodney was offered a job as an Associate Pastor in Education in Mobile, AL so the couple moved again and had another son, Seth.

Rodney was then offered a position at Bartlett Baptist Church as an Associate Pastor and Administrator over Outreach and Education. He was beloved by many families who attended Bartlett Baptist and made many fond memories of preaching sermons, Tuesday night door-to-door visitation, Bible studies, potlucks, children’s ministries and Wednesday night dinners. His passion was evangelism and training people to share their faith. He loved being there for people in times of crisis and in their biggest celebrations, like weddings and the birth of babies. While in Bartlett, Rodney and Valarie had their fifth child, Josh.

Rod loved playing tennis and jogging. He was a huge Auburn Tigers football fan and loved watching games with his sons. He was an avid reader with an incredible personal library with bookshelves throughout his home and garage. He had a small dog named Spike that was a terrier mix, that Valarie jokes was the 2nd love of his life next to her.

When he started Family Community Church, the tagline was “Loving God. Loving People.” That was Rod’s approach to life. He counseled and loved people through addictions, grief, dissolution of marriages, health crises, heartbreak and every kind of pain you could imagine. He prayed with them without judgement and guided them with biblical wisdom to point them to their Savior. He was gentle and gracious, and he loved like Jesus.

When he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, his faith never wavered. Although losing his strength and freedom was the hardest thing he ever went through, he said on many occasions how God was using his disease to make him more dependent on Him. He would always say, “God’s not done with me yet.”

Throughout his lifetime, the Lord used Rod to do so many great things for His kingdom. All of Heaven must have celebrated when he finally met Jesus! What a sweet moment it must’ve been to hear God say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

He leaves behind his wife of 54 years, Valarie Dunn, his 5 sons, 17 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild, as well as 2 sisters-in-law and 5 nieces and nephews.

Sons: Jonathan (Melissa), Shawn (Alissa), Tim (Mindy), Seth (Jessica) and Josh (Lindsey).

Grandchildren: Carter Dunn, Esten Dunn, Molly Perkins and husband, Jacob, Drew Dunn, Ethan Dunn, Hudson Dunn, Collin Dunn, Joseph Dunn, Tatum Dunn, Galvin Dunn, Zander Dunn, Gaines Dunn, Lennox Dunn, Briella Dunn, Issac Dunn, Avery Dunn and Sophia Dunn.

Great grandchild: Dakota Dunn

Sisters-in-Law: Marie Dunn (Bob) and Karen Brewer (Bruce)

Nephews and Nieces: Scott Dunn, Elizabeth Hill (Kurt) and David Dunn, Linnea Colon (Drew) and Matthew Brewer

Visitation will be held at Faith Baptist Church, 3755 N Germantown Pkwy, Bartlett, TN 38133, US, on August 24, 2026, from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm, followed by the Funeral at Faith Baptist Church on August 24, 2026, at 3:00 pm.