“I wasn’t sure it was much of an honor to be ‘given the bird!’” said Bill Dunn, Sr. He was telling me about the eagle sculpture presented to him by the Labor-Management Council at a dinner in the late 1980s recognizing his service as Co-Chair. The story reflected his humility and humor, qualities that helped him become one of the giants of the Kansas City community over a 70-year period and stimulating the sharing of so many condolences and memories after his death at age 103 was announced.
He told me this during one of our early conversations about the Labor-Management Council (LMC) after I became executive director. I had attended that dinner during my then-role with the Kansas City Labor Beacon newspaper. While I had met him several times and was aware of his accomplishments and many community roles especially with Rockhurst University, I did not fully appreciate his leadership qualities nor fully understand his impact until I started with the LMC, which he co-founded and co-chaired for many years.
We are grateful for leaders who share their time, or their ideas or their resources. Few share all three. Mr. Dunn was rare in that, regarding every cause I observed his involvement with, he shared all three. Given the many hats he wore, he was a very busy man with a full schedule capably managed by his secretary Liz Nace. Yet I never once saw him hurry through a meeting or a phone call. He devoted all of the time needed to make progress, to involve all at the table, to listen as well as talk. He enjoyed sharing stories and examples, the personal as well as the business, building strong relationships rather than checking off boxes. He was always focused on doing the right things in the right way, never expedient with methods nor self-serving with the goal.
Early in my LMC tenure I talked frequently with him on the phone and at his office. He wrote many substantial checks to support the LMC, mostly from his personal funds. Only once did I ever ask for his financial support, the many other times he initiated the gift. As I made decisions on how to spend the LMC’s funds, I have often asked myself would Mr. Dunn see this as a good investment towards our mission? I’m sure that the many other organizations he supported also had that perspective not because he asked us to but because his purity of effort inspired us to do the right thing in the right way.
As would be expected not every beneficiary of his generosity made decisions with the inspiration of his example. As one colleague put it, he had the iron fist in the velvet glove. He made his expectations clear and held folks accountable when they did not do the right things in the right way. He made our organizations and community better.
There are business folks who are generous with charity but not so much with their employees or customers. One of JE Dunn’s customers told me that after paying JE Dunn for a large project based on a bid price given about a year earlier, they were surprised to get a large check from the contractor. He called Mr. Dunn to ask why. Mr. Dunn explained that there had been a significant drop in steel prices from when the job was bid to when the steel was actually bought. The check represented the difference. How often do we see that?
Mr. Dunn also had great respect for his workers. He supported the role of unions and often noted that on community issues, labor and management agreed “about 90% of the time.” By building good relationships, the other 10% could be settled or “agree to disagree.” A dedicated Republican, Mr. Dunn often said that his party made a mistake moving towards more anti-union stances in the 1980s and ‘90s. That belief in the value of unions to his company and the community as well as to workers drove his devotion to the Labor-Management Council, a major reason the organization survived and thrives today when similar groups around the nation did not survive.
He also had compassion for individual workers. Mr. Dunn would help those released from prison to find apprenticeship spots, believing that they deserved a second chance. He also believed that giving those second chances would result in good employees. Help the community and the company would prosper, he both believed and proved.
Mr. Dunn was a deeply spiritual man, a dedicated Catholic who supported every major Catholic institution in our region. Yet many of his close friendships and business relationships were with folks from other faiths. He was a dedicated businessman, yet much of his time was spent working with leaders from labor, nonprofits and government. He was a dedicated worker, yet always found time for the personal and family sides of life and encouraged others to do so as well.
We may no longer have his physical presence, but his direct and indirect impact on thousands of people remains. If you want an example of leadership, of stewardship, of just being a good person, Bill Dunn Sr. is a great role model. RIP Bill, a life and job very well Dunn.
