Nathan Bryan Dunn, 25, passed away at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, MO, on January 29, 2011, due to complications from treatment of leukemia. Nathan was born on January 31, 1985, and was joyously adopted into the Ft. Smith, AR home of Bill and Paula Dunn on April 1, 1985. He was a star from the very start, excelling in everything he did, from a five-year spelling champion in grade school to first chair trumpet in the Arkansas All-State Jazz Band and drum major at Greenwood High School. He went on to Missouri State, where he graduated with honors in both Religious Studies and Philosophy in May 2007. Missouri State is also where he met his wife, Renee (Miller) Dunn, in the halls of Scholars House. They were married on July 21, 2007, in Springfield, MO. Nathan graciously agreed to a rainbow-themed wedding. Nathan then started his Masters at Missouri State, finishing everything except his thesis before his September 28, 2009, diagnosis of Acute Myelogenous Leukemia. The disease and treatment never broke his spirit, and he had a smile on his face and a joke on his lips to the very end.
Nathan is survived by his wife Renee Dunn of Springfield, MO and his parents Bill and Paula Dunn of Greenwood, AR. He is also survived by his grandparents Keith Newman of Ft. Smith, AR and Olive Woodbridge of Edinburg, TX, as well as countless other relatives and friends who loved him. He is preceded in death by his grandmother, Betty Newman. A visitation will be held at Gorman-Scharpf funeral home in Springfield, MO, on Tuesday, February 1, from 6-8 pm, with the funeral service on Wednesday, February 2, at 2 pm. Nathan will then be taken to Ft. Smith for a visitation at Edwards Funeral home on Thursday, February 3, from 6-8 pm with a graveside service at Forest Park Cemetery at 11 am on Friday, February 4.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be sent to the fund that was established for Nathan and Renee to help defray his medical expenses at Vineyard Christian Fellowship, 634 W. Wall, Springfield, MO, 65806. His family would like to thank all of the doctors and nurses who cared for Nathan during the last sixteen months, especially Dr. Robert Ellis, Dr. Keith Stockerl-Goldstein, Rebecca Thompson, and the nurses on 5 West at Cox South Hospital in Springfield, MO. Online condolences may be left at gormanscharpf.com, or edwards-funeralhome.com
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