Edward Patrick Dunbar

Jan 3, 1929 - Jan 10, 2021

A magnificent husband/father/grandfather whispered for his soul to go on January 10 in the year of St. Joseph.

Born in Deer Park, Wisconsin during the year of the Crash, Edward Dunbar thoroughly enjoyed four and half decades in Fountain Hills, after having lived in Asia, Europe and the eastern United States.  Following graduation at New Richmond High School in Wisconsin, Ed enlisted in the US Army and served as a teletype operator in South Korea before the war broke out.  He continued in a communications role at the Pentagon as a civilian, and then joined the newly created Central Intelligence Agency where he spent the next 23 years.   His CIA service took him to Tokyo, Manila, Frankfurt, Berlin, Taipei and headquarters at Langley, Virginia.  He married fellow Wisconsinite Jeanne Mary Griffith in Washington DC on July 29, 1950, and the newlywed spies were ensconced in Japan at age 24.    He worked overseas undercover with iconic Cold War CIA figures early in his career, then focused on overhead reconnaissance projects, including the YF-12A and KH-11 Kennen programs (distant precursors to Google Earth), until his retirement in 1975.  These projects produced unprecedented insight into the national security policies of America's Cold War adversaries.   

He moved with his family to Fountain Hills in a very hot August 1976, enjoying the splendid views, golfing and lake fishing with his friends. "Ed the Fed" worked at Nabers Realty for over 30 years, building lasting friendships with the clients that he welcomed to town, which included his younger brother Bill.  His son Patrick was a member of FH's first 8th grade graduation class.  In recent years he was a vocal member of the Bashas coffee crowd.  During his final eighteen months he lived in the care and comfort of the Skilled Nursing Facility at Fountain View Village and was moved by the compassion and kindness of the talented, dedicated staff, especially Carmelita Littleman-Abouanwer.     . 

He is survived by daughter Cynthia Margaret and her husband Reggie, son Patrick Joseph and his wife Emilce, and grandchildren Tomas and William.