Former Elbert County Commissioner John Dunn died Tuesday, August 2, 2016. I lost a true friend, and I am deeply saddened by his passing. My heartfelt condolences go out to his wife, Jackie, and their wonderful family. John's presence will be sincerely missed by almost everyone who had the good fortune to know him. He was truly one of a kind.
John lived pretty close to where my wife and I have our farm. The Dunns' ranch is a beautiful place with an historical back story that is quite amazing. It has what remains of the little ghost town of Sidney. Across Elbert Road, John’s airplane runway was built on the site where one of the historic Gomer’s Mills once stood.
John was a true steward of the land. He fiercely loved his ranch and was prepared to protect its serene beauty. He did that on a number of occasions in the time I knew him.
I had met John on numerous occasions over the years, but I really got to know him when news of Ray Wells and his SuperSlab project (the boondoggle, 210-mile long proposed toll road planned for Colorado's eastern plains from Fort Collins to Pueblo) raised its ugly head in 2005. One of the routes of the toll road would have come very close to both of our homes, and I was one of the founding members of the Elbert coalition of Toll Road Warriors, a group of citizens who united to defend our homes from this project that was clearly a land grab. I enlisted John’s help to go down to the Colorado State Capital Building to protest proposed legislation which would have given Ray Wells the green light to proceed with his road project. John did not have to be asked twice. He was “all in” on stopping the project and his testimony before the committee set to approve the project was invaluable. Our friendship was forged almost instantly.
John was a Republican. He was a damned good Republican commissioner for Elbert County. He was the kind of fiscal conservative that my father was. He believed in running a tight ship. He believed in keeping reserve funds. He demanded quarterly budget reports from the departments under his management. He was frugal and left a significant surplus as an important part of his legacy. He was well liked, enthusiastic and, for the most part, quite jovial. But when he had to be, he was tough as nails. He stood behind his employees and they respected him.
Because it never came up on the toll road project, John did not know that I was a Democrat He only learned of it one day when he asked me if I had ever thought of running for commissioner. I told him that I did not think a Democrat stood much of a chance in Elbert County. He looked at me and calmly and asked if I had ever thought about changing party affiliations. I told him that I had once been a Republican, but no, I was not going to change back. He smiled that infectious smile of his and roared with laughter. He said he thought I must be pretty hard-headed to be a Democrat living in Elbert County, and then told me we could still be friends. It was the beginning of a long friendship based on mutual respect of each others ideas. We talked county politics often and my respect for him grew immeasurably.
You see, John appreciated people of all political stripes. He was not intimidated by ideas that ran counter to his own. Diverse ideas excited John Dunn. He was confident in his beliefs and enjoyed a good disagreement. He always listened and tried to understand those who were on the other side of an issue. If it came to it, he had no problem standing his ground and firmly letting you know when he had reached the end of his patience. I loved that about John.
John loved his toys. We had as many discussions about tractors, trucks, airplanes and snowmobiles as we had discussions of politics. We both had Kubota tractors and we talked often on the telephone about our “orange children.” He might invite us over to show us his newest gizmo, to ride a snowmobile, or even to take us up in his plane. He was always generous, kind and welcoming. He so loved his land and often bragged about the sweet water that was beneath his feet.
As I stated earlier, John was truly one of a kind. He was brilliant, yet down to earth, a joker that knew when to be serious, a tough guy who could also be a softy. He lived life to the fullest. He lived for his wife, his family, his friends and his big black dogs. He enjoyed his parties. Man, oh man, he loved to entertain.
I will close with this short anecdote. John always found a common denominator in people he called his friends. One of the things that John and I had in common was that we both had hearing problems. Mine was as a result of genetic based hearing loss. John’s hearing loss came from years of working on airplane engines. When we were together, if we did not have our hearing aids in our ears, our conversations got pretty loud. I remarked to him once (forgive my crudeness) that neither one of us could hear ourselves if we were to fart inside a tin bucket. He roared with laughter and confided in me that he liked it that we had that in common. It was a struggle we shared and he felt okay talking about it with me. The little things meant a lot to this lion of a man. I will miss you dearly, John Dunn.
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