Paul H. Dunn
Born: 24 April 1924
Called to First Council of the Seventy: 6 April 1964
Called to Presidency of the Seventy: 1 October 1976
Called to First Quorum of the Seventy: 22 February 1980
Became Emeritus General Authority: 30 September 1989
Died: 9 January 1998
Called to First Council of the Seventy: 6 April 1964
Called to Presidency of the Seventy: 1 October 1976
Called to First Quorum of the Seventy: 22 February 1980
Became Emeritus General Authority: 30 September 1989
Died: 9 January 1998
Biographical Articles
Improvement Era, June 1964, Paul H. Dunn, Our Newest General Authority
Relief Society Magazine, June 1964, Paul H. Dunn Appointed to First Council of the Seventy
Improvement Era, November 1967, Paul H. Dunn of the First Council of the Seventy
Ensign, March 1998, Elder Paul H. Dunn Passes Away
Relief Society Magazine, June 1964, Paul H. Dunn Appointed to First Council of the Seventy
Improvement Era, November 1967, Paul H. Dunn of the First Council of the Seventy
Ensign, March 1998, Elder Paul H. Dunn Passes Away
Berrett, William E. "Paul H. Dunn, Our Newest General Authority." Improvement Era. June 1964. pg. 448-449.
Paul H. Dunn Our Newest General Authority By William F. Berrett Administrator of Seminaries and Institutes of Religion It was 8:30 am on the morning of July 21, 1944. Paul had quickly checked his watch as he tried to squirm even deeper into his hastily dug foxhole and take quick account of his position. He was on the beach of the island of Guam. It was not a happy position. The first five waves of his battalion to come ashore had been completely wiped out, the sixth and seventh had won a small beachhead. He had been in the seventh wave and was still under heavy fire. The United States Army had won back its first few feet of land from the Japanese invader. Paul's wrist was bleeding from a shrapnel wound—his right wrist— his pitching arm. His identification tag had been shot away. As he lay in his foxhole his thoughts raced back over the events of his life: back to his rookie years as pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, farmed out to Pocatello of the Pioneer League and later to the Coast League—would he ever pitch again?—back to the fair-haired Jeanne, the girl of his dreams whom he had met in high school and now might never see again; back to his childhood in Provo, Utah; to his father, Joshua Harold Dunn, the grocery store executive; to his mother, Geneva Roberts Dunn; to his grandfather, owner of the Roberts Hotel in Provo; to his boyhood in Little Rock, Arkansas, and young manhood in Los Angeles. There can pass through the mind in a moment the whole of one's former years, so remarkable is the human mechanism. There can also in a period of crisis arise in the mind the serious questions of life itself, and to Paul, reared in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there came vividly the questions, "Is there a God?" "Is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the true Church?" He said of the occasion: "I prayed with earnestness and humility as I had never prayed before for an answer to those questions. Immediately there came into my soul a sweet spirit, a feeling of comfort, a feeling of assurance that God did exist and that the Church of Jesus Christ was again upon the earth." That event in a foxhole in the far-off island of Guam was the turning point in young Paul's life. It was the day he became a man—a God-fearing man. And the assurance of the Spirit received on that morning was to sustain him through all the subsequent battles of the Pacific war. In the battle to retake the islands of the Philippines, Paul was in the forefront at Leyte, three days ahead of General Douglas MacArthur. His battalion stormed ashore at the island of Ie Shina, then to the bloody beaches of Okinawa where 300,000 died, 100,000 of them Americans. Here Paul was one of the last Americans to talk to war correspondent Ernie Pyle before he was shot down. It was a terrible campaign. Of the thousand men of Paul's battalion to leave San Francisco, only Paul and five others reached the end of the line in Japan. Three hundred fifty were killed and the others were wounded physically or mentally and sent behind the lines. But Paul survived—sustained by a faith which seared his very soul. Returning to civilian life in 1946 at the close of the war, Paul again reported for duty under his contract with the St. Louis Cardinals. Again fate stepped in to affect the course of his life. While pitching a game in the Sunset League, he snapped his collarbone. The accident came at a time when he had a fair chance of scaling the major league heights. He might have regained his full effectiveness, but the chances were somewhat dimmed, and the prospect of Sunday baseball had begun to trouble him. His decision was to turn to another field, this time to that of education. By 1953 he had completed his Bachelor's Degree in religion at Chapman College. By 1954 he had his Master's Degree at the University of Southern California. In the year that he obtained the BA degree he had entered into employment with the Church department of education as a teacher in the seminaries at Los Angeles. To turn back the pages—the romance begun in Hollywood High School before the war had not been dimmed by the war years. Upon Paul's return in 1946 he had converted, baptized and married Jeanne Cleverton, daughter of Cecil F. Cheverton, president of Chapman College, and later head of Brite Bible College at Texas Christian University, Theirs has been a happy marriage. The Dunns have three daughters, Janet 17, Marsha 14, and Kellie 4. All have been active in the Church. They are members of Downey Third Ward, Huntington Stake, where Paul has been a seventy of the 235th quorum. Coincidentally, Elder Dunn was ordained to the office of seventy on October 15, 1950 by the late President Levi Edgar Young whose death created the vacancy which Elder Dunn has been called to fill. As an educator, Elder Dunn's rise was rapid. An outstanding teacher, his gift as an administrator was early recognized. In 1952 he was appointed assistant co-ordinator of seminaries in Southern California. In 1956 he was appointed director of the LDS Institute of Religion adjacent to the University of Southern California. During this period he was working on a doctorate degree from USC, which he received in 1959. In 1959 he was given the additional task of coordinator of all institutes of religion in Southern California. Under his supervision the institute program in his area was extended to some sixty-two college campuses. He was serving full time in coordinating this vast program of religious instruction when called to the First Council of the Seventy on April 6, 1964. During his years in the religious education field, Elder Dunn has been a dedicated man, refusing lucrative offers in secular education because of his earnest faith that in religious education lies the bulwark of security for the youth of the Church he has come so much to love. He leaves the active teaching field with a host of friends who have felt the depth of his convictions and the effectiveness of his methods in reaching and affecting for good the lives of young men and women. His recent book You Too Can Teach remains a monument to his past work and a guide for others who would profit by his experiences. At the age of thirty-nine Elder Dunn is entering a new phase of his already eventful life. His is a great calling— a special witness to the divinity of the Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. In his call we see the fine hand of a Loving Master and the genius of his church organization in developing the leadership of its members. |
Elder Paul H. Dunn and wife Jeanne and daughters
Kellie, front, Janet, right, and Marsha. |
"Paul H. Dunn Appointed to First Council of the Seventy." Relief Society Magazine. June 1964. pg. 406-407.
Paul H. Dunn Appointed to the First Council of Seventy Paul Harold Dunn, a California educator, was appointed to the First Council of Seventy at the Monday morning session of the 134th Annual General Conference of the Church, April 6, 1964, the closing day of Conference. His call fills the vacancy in the Council of Seventy occasioned by the death of Elder Levi Edgar Young, in December 1963. Elder Dunn was born in Provo, Utah, April 24, 1924, the second of three sons of Joshua Harold and Geneve Roberts Dunn. The family moved to California in 1939, where Elder Dunn continued his education. He received a B.A. degree in religion from Chapman College in 1953, and the next year he was awarded a Master's Degree in education from the University of Southern California. He received his doctorate in educational administration from the same institution in 1959. At the time of his appointment to the Council, he was an active seventy in the Downey Third Ward of Huntington Park Stake. He became associated with the Church Education System in 1952, as a seminary teacher in the Los Angeles area, and as vice principal of the seminaries in that city in 1953-54. Later, he became assistant supervisor of the seminaries of Southern California and served with great success in that capacity until 1956, when he was appointed director of the University of Southern California Institute of Religion. When called to be a General Authority, Elder Dunn was coordinator of the Institutes of Religion of Southern California. In this work, he has directed the activities of nine fulltime and forty-one part-time institutes, with an estimated enrollment of 2,500 students. His area of supervision included the institutes from Fresno, south to the Mexican border. Through his training and experience as a counselor and friend of the youth of the Church, and by his enthusiasm, friendliness, spiritual qualities, and great energy and ability. Elder Dunn has inspired and directed thousands of young people into the ways of usefulness and high endeavor in Church and community activities. He has been untiring in his efforts to encourage young people to remain active in the Church organizations and to increase their understanding of the gospel so that their attitudes and understanding of the gospel will enable them to be effective missionaries and exemplars of the teachings and principles of Latter-day Saint ideals. His participation in athletics, (baseball, golf, football, basketball and track), and sports during his high school and college years has enabled him to influence many young men into taking part in such programs sponsored by the Church. Elder Dunn's maternal grandfather W. D. Roberts, and the grandfather’s brother E. L. Roberts, who for many years was head coach and athletic director at the Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, were well known athletes and provided Elder Dunn with his heritage of interest. Elder Dunn's father passed away in December 1960. His mother and brothers and their families are living in California. Elder Dunn married Jeanne Alice Cheverton, whom he converted to the Church. They were sealed in the Arizona Temple, and are the parents of three daughters: Janet Carolyn, sixteen; Marsha Jeanne, fourteen, and Kellie Colleen, four. |
ELDER PAUL H. DUNN AND HIS FAMILY
Elder Paul H. Dunn and his wife Jeanne Cheverton Dunn, with their daughters: Kellie (front, left); Janet (standing at the left), and Marsha (at the right). |
"Paul H. Dunn of the First Council of the Seventy." Improvement Era. November 1967. pg. 60.
PAUL H. DUNN of the First Council of the Seventy To the frightened and wounded young soldier in a foxhole on the island of Guam during World War II, there came an overpowering desire to have answers to some serious questions. Death had wasted the lives of many of his companions, and there kept coming into his mind with recurring intensity the thoughts: Is there a God? Is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the true church? In deep concern and fear. Elder Paul H. Dunn prayed with earnestness and humility. Of this experience he says, "Immediately there came into my soul a sweet spirit, a feeling of comfort, a feeling of assurance that God did exist and the Church of Jesus Christ was again on earth." Elder Dunn was born April 24, 1924, at Provo, Utah, to Joshua Harold and Geneva Roberts Dunn. He early developed a love for sports, and did so well in baseball that after playing on his high school team in Los Angeles, he signed a contract with the St. Louis Cardinals as a pitcher and was farmed out to the Pioneer and Pacific Coast leagues. The war interrupted his baseball career. Following the war, while again pitching under his Cardinal contract. Elder Dunn broke his collarbone. With his chances dim for full recovery, and a growing concern about Sunday baseball, he turned to another field—education. Elder Dunn attended Chapman College and graduated in 1953 with a bachelor's degree in religion. The following year he received his master's degree from the University of Southern California. In the meantime he had converted, baptized, and married the Chapman College president's daughter, Jeanne Cheverton (they are the parents of three daughters) and had begun his career with the Church School System as a seminary teacher in Los Angeles. He served as southern California assistant coordinator of seminaries, then as director of the institute of religion adjacent to the University of Southern California. In 1959 he also received his doctorate in education from USC. He was serving as coordinator of all institutes of religion in southern California when he was called to the First Council of the Seventy on April 6, 1964. President Dunn's experience in the educational programs of the Church has given him keen insights into the needs and concerns of contemporary youth and adults. He has written many lessons for use in the auxiliaries, drawing upon his own experiences and his knowledge of youth and their problems. These insights and his pleasant personality are valuable assets in his present assignments in the Church, which include serving as international president of the LDS Student Association. |