Seldon Creighton Dunn (1916 - 1979)

Born 19 Feb 1916 in Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas, USA

Ancestors

Died 20 Oct 1979 at age 63 in Athens, Regional unit of Athens, Attica, Greece

Biography

This biography was auto-generated by a GEDCOM import.^[1] It's a rough draft and needs to be edited.

Name

Name: Seldon Creighton "Smokey" /Dunn/

Given Name: Seldon Creighton "Smokey"

Surname: Dunn

Nickname: Smokey

A Given name was found in addition to a first name in the NAME tag.

Burial

Burial:

Place: Greenwood Memorial Park, San Diego, San Diego Co, CA

User ID

User ID: CE49534898B24529B14F8B33DE393D89055A

Note

Note: #NI33

Sources

1. ↑ Dunn-4326 was created by Tom Greene through the import of wikisomepalmers1.ged on Jul 21, 2014. This comment and citation can be deleted after the biography has been edited and primary sources are included.

Notes

Note NI33Capt Seldon Creighton "Smokey" Dunn

Birth: Feb. 19, 1916

Wichita

Sedgwick County

Kansas, USA

Death: Oct. 20, 1979

Athens, Greece

Eagle Scout

BS Pre-Med University of Kansas

MD University of Kansas, Lawrence 1949

MPH University of California, Berkeley 1959

Phi Beta Pi, professional medical fraternity,

Univ of Kansas, Lawrence 1947

Seldon married Jonetta Marie Cook, also of Wichita, in 1936 in Watertown, So. Dakota. They moved to Louisiana where "Smokey" started medical school, residing in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

After WW-II Seldon Dunn completed his medical degree and returned to active duty in the Navy as a Flight Surgeon. Flight Surgeons specialize in Aviation Medicine, most specifically for Navy and Marine aviators, and are also qualified aviators. It always was very satisfying for Dad to "have" to get his monthly flight time in.

Seldon and Jonetta adopted 2 children, Sheldon Dunn and Mary Robinson "Robin" Dunn (named for Jonetta's maternal grandmother).

He was in the first class of Aerospace Medicine in Pensacola, Florida, working with the seven Mercury astronauts. On 20 Feb. 1962, he led the medical debriefing team for Maj. John Glenn, Jr USMC after his three orbits around the earth. The US Navy certified Seldon as a Space Flight Surgeon trained and specializing in medicine for astronauts.

Seldon was always happy working on things with fine details, especially important for a doctor performing surgery. He built many sailing ship models, starting from package kits, but hand-tying all of the rigging using surgical knots. He also used this skill repairing communications equipment as the communications officer on LST-755 (later in service in the Taiwanese Navy as ROC Chung Hai (LST-201) (retired 1 Feb 2010)) at the Lingayen Gulf invasion (Philippines).

As a Flight Surgeon he saw sea duty on the carriers USS Boxer CV-21, USS Randolph CVS-15 and USS Kitty Hawk CVA-63 (four tours of duty off Vietnam). Shore duty took Seldon, Jonetta and their two children to Bethesda (MD), Guam, El Centro, San Diego, Pensacola, Norfolk (VA), Titchfield Abbey Cottage outside Portsmouth (England), and finally back to San Diego.

He entered the Navy in June 1942 and served in the Pacific Theater on LST-755 as the communications officer, as well as flotilla communications officer, and was qualified as a Deck Officer. In August 1972 he retired as a Navy Captain after 27 years of service (12 1/2 years of sea duty) including WW-II, the Cuba Missile Blockade (1962), exchange duty with the Royal Navy in England, and Vietnam (WestPac).

His military decorations included the Presidential Unit Citation; Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon; World War II Victory Ribbon; National Defense Service Medal; Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal; Vietnam Service Medal (4 Stars); Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces Meritorious Unit Citation (Gallantry Cross); Philippine Liberation Ribbon; and Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.

After retirement, Seldon studied acupuncture and opened a private practice in San Diego. After practicing for several years, he retired and started traveling the world, often as Space Available on military aircraft (allowed for retirees at the time). It was on a 1979 cruise in the Mediterranean with his second wife that he had his final heart attack, entering a hospital in Athens and died.

He was survived at his death by his first wife of 40 years, Jonetta M. Cook Dunn, their children, Sheldon and Robin, and his grandson (mother - Robin), William Andrew Ketchin; and his second wife of one year, Euneva Jones Dunn. Robin Dunn died in Everett, Wash., on 7 August, 1997 after a three year battle with cancer. Jonetta died in her sleep at the home of a niece in New Hampshire on 16 Oct., 2012.

Family links:

Parents:

Lewis Howard Dunn (1897 - 1968)

Estelle Gladys McFadden Dunn (1894 - 1973)

Spouse:

Jonetta Marie Cook Dunn (1919 - 2012)

Children:

Mary Robinson Dunn (1950 - 1997)

Burial:

Greenwood Memorial Park

San Diego

San Diego County

California, USA

Plot: Bible Mausoleum, Corridor of Goodness, Tier B, Crypt 60

[1] Find A Grave Memorial# 54029308