Source: Carlow Live Reporter19 Apr
2020
Patrick Michael Dundon, formerly
of Borris, Carlow has died in California.
He was the last remaining
child of Maye Flood and of Dr Edward Dundon of Borris who was O/C of
the Fourth Battalion, Carlow Brigade of the Irish Republican Army
during 1916 and the War of Independence. Born on September 27, 1920,
he joined the Irish army in 1941 and left in 1946 with the rank of
Lieutenant. He went to live in the US in 1949.
The pride of country he felt from
his father’s involvement in the independence movement, he now
transferred to his adopted country. That was his reason for joining
the US Air Force in 1950 and becoming a US citizen in 1951. He served
in Korea from 1952 to 1953. While stationed in Sacramento, on July 4
1951, he met a young Californian called Theresa Drage at a party in
Alameda and they were married less than two months later on September
1, 1951. After leaving the Air Force he went to work for Sears
department store in Oakland, San Francisco and stayed with the firm
until he retired in 1988. Although he was regularly made salesman of
the month or the year, he made little of that. He was a man who
believed in friends and family. Work, he said, was just something he
did to put food on the table.
An interview he did for a job
soon after arriving in the US shows his priorities. He was asked in a
questionnaire what he wanted to have most in the world and was given a
choice of a boat, a Cadillac, a house. Paddy wrote down that he would
love to have a good singing voice. He didn’t get the job. Later in
life he identified what was wrong with the American Dream. In 1993 he
said: “We are to have everything, the boat, the two cars, the house,
but they forgot to put in the joy. There is no place for joy because
the American dream is just things.” He was someone people felt
comfortable sharing their problems with, and he helped out many family
members and friends, and people at St Joseph’s Church in Alameda where
he worshipped.
He volunteered for years with the
local St Vincent De Paul, delivering furniture, food, and help to the
elderly and poor. He did this well into his 80s. He also delivered
food with Meals on Wheels and then in his later years, he received
meals from the very same group. As a young man, Paddy was a keen
golfer and a member of Borris Golf Club. He won the Borris Cup and
County Carlow Challenge Cup in 1939 at the age of 19.
He got into running when he was
60. In a short time he started competing in the senior Olympics, where
he won many medals. He also ran three marathons. His best time was on
the Oakland Marathon in 1984 with a time of 3:34. He loved the
outdoors and had regular family outings to Yosemite National Park.
After his beloved wife, Terry died, he lived on his own for 20 years.
He was fiercely independent.
Patrick Dundon died on March 28,
2020 at Senior Living Carlton Pleasant Hill, California, just a few
months short of his 100th birthday.
He was predeceased by his wife
Terry, his sister Mary O’Leary of Borris, Co Carlow, his brothers
Monsignor Eamon Dundon of Sydney, Australia, Professor Seamus Dundon,
Dublin and Derry Dundon, Alameda, California. He is survived by his
children, Patrick, Sheila, John and Chris, by his grandchildren Kate,
Rian, Will and Zane; by his great granddaughter, Mazie, by his
daughters-in-law Martha and Marianne and son-in-law, Dale; by his
nieces and nephews, grand nieces and nephews in the US and in Ireland.
Olivia O'Leary
Source:
Answers.com
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