Governor Winfield C. Dunn

Dunn, Bryan Winfield Culberson, D. D. S. – Born in Meridian, Mississippi, July 1, 1927, he completed his earthly journey on September 28, 2024. He was preceded in death by his mother, Dorothy Crum Dunn, his father, Aubert Culberson Dunn, his sisters Ann Dunn Singley and Deon Dunn Toomey and his grandson, William Culberson Warren. He is survived by his bride and partner for 74 years, Betty Prichard Dunn, a loving companion, a native of Memphis and a former First Lady of Tennessee. He proudly leaves behind his son, Charles Winfield Dunn, father of Andrew Charles Winfield Dunn (Nicole) and Margaret Louisa Lovelace Dunn, his daughter Donna Gayle Dunn Hurley (Edwin), their children Peter Gray Hurley, Stuart Winfield Hurley (Tracy), and Catherine Elizabeth Hurley Mize (Hunter), his daughter Julie Claire Dunn (Alex Koss), mother of John Patrick Warren and the late William Culberson Warren, and 8 greatgrandchildren.

At 17 years of age he volunteered to enter the U. S. Navy and became a veteran of World War II. Honorably discharged from the Navy, he entered and later became a graduate of the University of Mississippi, a graduate with honors from the University of Tennessee College of Dentistry, a practicing dentist in Memphis for 14 years, the father of three and the husband of a public school 2nd grade teacher, Betty Prichard Dunn. In Memphis he was an active member of the Phoenix Club, the Junior Chamber of Commerce and the Memphis Dental Society. He was a founding member of Christ United Methodist Church where he taught the Fellowship Sunday school class for several years. He was a member of the board of Trustees of John Gaston hospital. He became a citizen politician in the ranks of the grass roots political activity of the Shelby County Republican Party in the early 1960’s, eventually serving as Shelby County Chairman of the Republican Party for two terms. He became increasingly interested in the public life of his state. In April 1970, from the steps of the Tennessee State Capitol, he announced his candidacy for the governor’s office and the rest is history.

At 43 years of age he became the 43rd Governor of Tennessee after launching what proved to be a remarkable campaign for the state’s highest office. Memphis and Shelby County made the difference in a hard fought primary race by giving him 93 percent of its record Republican primary vote in 1970. He has always called his beloved Memphis his home. Nashville, too, has been dear to his heart. Against all odds as a political unknown, his election as the first Republican governor in 50 years, the first Shelby County resident to be elected governor in 64 years, ushered in a new era of progress in the state.

His book, “From a Standing Start” published in 2007, contains the following statement: “Never in my life’s experience did so many giving, caring and devoted people come together to do something (politically) that seemed more worthwhile. Their only reward was in the pleasure of hoping it could happen and in the accomplishment. And the fact that the dream did become a reality is one more example of the truth that ‘people should never stop dreaming.’” A copy of the book has been distributed to every high school and college library in the state.

At his inauguration, he challenged the Legislature and the state at large — “Support me if you can, oppose me if you must, but above all, participate in your government and its future.” Four dynamic years as governor resulted in statewide public kindergarten, the reorganization of administration in state government, the creation of the Department of Economic and Community Development, the Tennessee Housing Development Authority, the consolidation of the Tennessee Highway Department, Bureau of Aeronautics and Mass Transit Authority into the Department of Transportation, the formation of the cabinet level Department of Banking, great strides forward in public and higher education, mental health, highway development and economic growth. While Governor he served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the University of Tennessee, Chairman of the State Board of Regents, Chairman of the Education Commission of the States, Chairman of the Appalachian Regional Commission and Chairman of the Republican Governor’s Association. Governor Dunn worked closely with fellow governors Jimmy Carter, Nelson Rockefeller and Ronald Reagan, among others, as well as George H. W. Bush, then Chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Prevented by Tennessee’s Constitution from seeking a second term, in 1975 Dunn joined the board of directors and executive department of Hospital Corporation of America. He served on numerous corporate boards and Presidential Commissions. Former board memberships include First American National Bank, Phycor, Tennessee Natural Resources, Behavioral Healthcare, Medical Properties of America, Province Healthcare, Franklin American Mortgage Company, the Advisory Committee to Harpeth Capital LLC, Centennial Hospital and Polaris Hospital Company. He served as Chairman of the Federation of American Hospitals and Chairman of the National Committee on Quality Healthcare. Presidential appointments include The Advisory Committee to the Director of National Institutes of Health, the National Committee on the Status of Women and The National Committee on Highway Safety. He was active with the Nashville Chamber of Commerce, the Nashville Heart Association, the Nashville Conference of Christians and Jews, the Executive Committee of the United Way, The Middle Tennessee YMCA Foundation, and was three times named Tennessee’s Man of the Year by the state’s newspaper editors, television news directors and heads of Chambers of Commerce. He served two terms as crusade chairman of The Nashville Chapter of the American Cancer Society and four years as Chairman of Character Counts! Nashville. Sixteen years following his successful campaign for governor he offered himself again as a candidate but was unsuccessful. In 2010 he was honored by the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee by being chosen to receive the Joe Kraft Humanitarian Award.

Governor Dunn worshiped at First Presbyterian Church of Nashville where he served as an Elder. He was baptized as a youth at the First Baptist Church of Meridian, Mississippi and took great satisfaction in his church relationships. He loved deeply his Mississippi and Tennessee families. He asked that his grandchildren serve as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers are each member of The Society of Amateur Chefs of Nashville, Barrett Rich, Joey Hargrove, Brad Martin, Sen. Lamar Alexander, Dr. Charles Crawford, Jakey Cook, Robert Farnsworth and Scooter Clippard. It was also his wish that every hand he touched in his life be considered as belonging to an honorary pallbearer. The Dunn family requests that, in lieu of flowers, any memorial donations be made to the Winfield Dunn Scholarship Endowment at the University of Tennessee College of Dentistry, U. T. Services Center, Office of Development, 62 South Dunlap, Ste. 500, Memphis, TN 38163.

The Dunn family will receive visitors on Thursday, October 3, 2024, from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., and on Friday, October 4, 2024, from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., in Courtenay Hall of First Presbyterian Church of Nashville, 4815 Franklin Pike, Nashville, Tennessee. A Service of Witness to the Resurrection and Celebration of Life will be held in the sanctuary of First Presbyterian Church on Friday, October 4, 2024, at 2:00 p.m.