Arthur Dunlea

Art Dunlea was born November 28, 1944 in Somerville, Massachusetts. He later lived in Tewksbury, MA.

Art was preceded in death by his father Arthur C. Dunlea, mother Anastasia “Ann” Dunlea Donnelly, stepfather John “Mick” Donnelly and brother-in-law James “Jamsie” Norman. Art is survived by his wife, Angela Dunlea, son Art (Kim), daughter Jennifer and grandson Jacob. Art was the beloved brother of Barbara Norman and Tina Grasso (Ron) and uncle of many nieces and nephews.

Art attended Sacred Heart High School and graduated in 1962. During his school years, he took part in many sports – tumbling, baseball and basketball. Later that year he joined the US Marine Corps (USMC) and shortly went to Vietnam and served as a Communications Chief. While there, his tumbling experience served him well to become an excellent parajumper. When he could enjoy breaks and play basketball, he protected himself by using his “Somerville Street techniques”, which often stunned his opponents when they found themselves on the ground looking up at the sky. Art was honorably discharged in 1966 and joined a USMC Reserve Unit after returning to the Somerville/Boston area.

Arthur worked at Cabot Corporation in Boston and was transferred to their office in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1984. Art soon joined the Atlanta area USMC 4th Low Altitude Air Defense (LAAD) Reserve unit. During his time with the 4th LAAD unit, some of the positions he served were Communications Chief, Platoon Sergeant and Platoon Commander. Master Gunnery Sergeant Dunlea led Marines from cold weather training in Wisconsin to the heat of the desert at Twenty-Nine Palms, California. When duty called in 1990, Master Gunnery Sergeant Dunlea led a platoon of Marines to the Gulf War in Saudi Arabia. Art was a dedicated leader, who provided a guiding and steadying influence on his Marines. When Master Gunnery Sergeant Dunlea retired in 2003, he was the most Senior E-9 in the Marine Corps. Even after his retirement, Master Gunnery Sergeant Dunlea volunteered his time with his local Marine Corps League Detachment by supporting and co-leading their Toys for Tots program as well as heading up their benefit raffle programs. He also volunteered during the 1996 Olympics Games in Atlanta and the Georgia State Defense Force.

Art last worked at State Farm Insurance Company’s Insurance Support Center. Because of his leadership skills, his last position before his retirement in 2011 was as a Training Coordinator for the Enterprise Services Training Analyst Group. One of his major accomplishments was working with State Farm Corporate to spearhead and lead the Company’s Military Affinity Group (MAG) at the Operations Center. The Group sent letters and care packages to honor and support deployed service members of State Farm families.

Arthur enjoyed our travels to many wonderful American cities, towns and beaches. He was thrilled with our visits to Italy and France.

He was an avid Boston Red Sox fan and cherished his days watching their games at Fenway Park with family and friends. However, when he moved to the Atlanta area, he soon became a dedicated fan of the World Series Champions Atlanta Braves! As far as football, Tom Brady was always The Man.

A Celebration of Life for Arthur Dunlea will be held on Monday, May 23 at 2PM at Alpharetta First United Methodist Church, 69 N. Main Street, Alpharetta GA 30009. A reception will take place at the Church with light refreshments.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Semper Fi & America’s Fund https://semperfifund.org or your local Toys for Tots.

The service will be livestreamed from the Church at https://vimeo.com/event/2087862.

Some people are missed more than words can say…

and more than hearts should have to bear

- Lois Foster