Bob Dunn Honored For His Service

On Friday, August 4, 2017, Friends of the Yolo County Archives recognized Robert F. Dunn for his seventeen years of volunteer work at the Yolo County Archives. What began as a project of documenting the history of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church found him spending time in the County Archives in the late 1990’s reviewing documents and archived newspapers. During his research he helped the Archives when they received requests for copies of obituaries at a time when the Archives did not have its own scanning equipment.

Around the year 2000, Mr. Dunn and then County Archivist Imelda Russell decided to retain copies of the requested obituaries. This informal collection was initially housed in a used three ring binder. As Robert completed his research on St. Luke’s Church, he decided to turn his attention to compile a full set of published obituaries of Yolo County from its founding to current period.

Over the past seventeen years, Mr. Dunn compiled 37,482 obituaries and from 1850 to June, 2017. The records provide information for those interested in family history and have been used in statistical reviews such as the number of Civil War Veterans buried in the County.

At the surprise reception for Mr. Dunn, County Archivist Heather Lanctot presented Mr. Dunn with a plaque of appreciation and named the obituary collection in his name. Friends of the Yolo County Archives hosted a reception following the dedication.