Mrs. Emily Robichaud Dunn died peacefully in her sleep at home, on Sunday morning, November 11, 2018 at 10 am. She was 104. She is survived by her daughter Peg Dunn-Snow, son-in-law Tom Snow, her son David Dunn, grandchildren, Charles and Carrie, great-grandchildren, Emily, Ryan and Hudson, step- grandchildren Eric and Sheri and their spouses Lisa and Michael, step-great-grandchildren, Eric, Evan, Lela, Brendan, Logan, and Aidan and numerous nieces and nephews across the country.

Emily was born in Athol, Massachusetts on October 5, 1914. As a young girl, she moved with her family to Connecticut. She married Charles Robert Dunn from Middletown, Connecticut on October 26, 1940 in New Britain, Connecticut at Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church. They were married for 62 years before his death in 2003.

Emily witnessed and was a part of many historic changes during the 20th Century. She was born during World War I and she graduated from Central Connecticut Teachers’ College in New Britain during the Great Depression in 1936. She was a member of the first graduating class to earn a bachelor’s degree in education at the college when she opted to complete a fourth year of education rather than settle for a three-year teaching certificate. In the summer of 1939, prior to the United States involvement in World War II, she traveled by ocean liner to visit many countries in Europe, including Germany. As a teacher, she was allowed to visit elementary schools. She documented in her travel journal that she witnessed school children reciting the Lord’s Prayer and saluting, “Heil Hitler,” at the end of each school day. She traveled back home on one of the last ships sailing to the United States out of Germany that summer, where she wrote about picking up 40 Jewish refugees on the high seas after the ship had departed from port. After returning home, she challenged the local school board for the right for married women to work as teachers in 1940 and, during World War II, she was the director of one of the first, pre-school daycare centers in the country, which allowed those children’s mothers to work in the factories to support the war effort. Afterwards, Emily and her family moved to Hollywood, Florida in 1956. She completed her public school teaching career and retired from the Florida School System after working in Broward County schools during the 1960s and 1970s.

In her retirement years, she continued her travel education to Central America, the Caribbean Islands, and the Middle East with a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. She continued her teaching career by tutoring parish priests at her church from Cuba, Vietnam, as well as Central and South American on the correct pronunciation of certain words in preparation for their sermons in English. Emily, a reader at church herself for many years, was selected among hundreds of applicants to be a reader at the outdoor Mass celebrated by Pope Paul II, during the pontiff’s 1987 visit to Diocese of Miami.

She was a wordsmith and there were few words she couldn’t spell correctly. An avid reader, she solved a crossword puzzle most mornings. In 1928, at age 14, she won a certificate for penmanship using the Palmer Method. She loved the arts. She was an excellent baker and accomplished seamstress, leaving her family with many heirloom quilts, afghans, and Christmas decorations. She loved music and dance and completed a few paintings. As a first grade teacher, back in the days when public school systems did not hired art teachers, many of her students won county–wide art contests in their age category. During one school year, a painting by one of her first grade students was selected as the cover of the Christmas card for the Elementary Education Department of the Broward County Public Schools.

Emily Robichaud Dunn was laid to rest during a private, family interment service on Monday, November 26, 2018 at Fred Hunter’s Cemetery on Taft Street at the Valor mausoleum. Father Jeff McCormick conducted the service. A Memorial Mass will be held on Saturday, February 2, 2019 at 10:30 at St Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church in Pembroke Pines, Florida to celebrate her long and accomplished life. A reception, sponsored by the St Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church community, will follow the church service in the social hall for those in attendance at the Mass.

Donations can be made to the Delta Kappa Gamma (DKG) International Scholarship Fund

DKG Society of Leading Women Educators
ATT: DKG International Scholarship Committee

416 W 12th Street Austin, TX 78701-1817

Arrangements entrusted to Boyd-Panciera Family Funeral Care, University Drive Chapel.