Lewis Dunton
January 11, 1992
Rear Admiral Lewis Dunton
Lewis W. Dunton Jr., 79, former resident of Rockport and Melrose, died on
Thursday at a Saugus nursing home. He was a retired rear admiral in the U.S.
Naval Reserves.
Born on July 26, 1912, in Spencer, he is the husband of Mary E. (Gable)
Dunton of Melrose, and son of the late Lewis W. and Grace D. (Taylor) Dunton.
Admiral Dunton graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1930 and from
Harvard University in 1934. He received a commission in the Navy through the
Harvard ROTC in 1934. He saw active duty in World War II, receiving both a
Purple Heart and the Silver Star for action in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. He
served in the U.S. Naval Reserves following World War II until 1959,
attaining the rank of rear admiral.
He served as vice president of the A.C. Lawrence Leather Co., Peabody,
from 1935 to 1972. He serves as former chairman and director of the Calfskin
Tanners Group and was a member of the Tanners Council of America.
He was a member of the First Congregational Church, Melrose, where he
served as a deacon, leader of the Boy Scouts and on the committee to rebuild
the church after a fire destroyed the original building. He served as vice
chairman of the Board of Directors and as a member of the planning committee
of the Congregational Retirement Homes.
He was a retired trustee of the Melrose-Wakefield Hospital, on the Board
of Directors at the Battleship USS Massachusetts Memorial, on the board of
the Sandy Bay Yacht Club, Rockport, and an alumni trustee of the
Massacusetts Gamma Chapter SAE at Hrvard.
Adm. Dunton was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and the
Society of Mayflower Descendants. He was an avid sailor and coached Little
League for many years in Melrose where he resided for 46 years.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by his son, Frank Prouty Dunton,
husband of Patricia, of Rockport; daughters-in-law Marjorie S. Dunton of
Jacksonville, FL, and Dr. Brenda Pettee Haughey of East Amherst, NY; four
grandchildren, two nephews, John T. Dunton of California and Charles H.
Dunton of Nantucket; and three grandnieces.
He is predeceased by 1st Lt. James Gable Dunton, U.S. Army, and Capt.
Lewis W. Dunton III, U.S. Navy.
The funeral will be held Friday, Jan. 17 at 11 a.m. at the First
Congregational Church, Melrose. The Rev. Erskine White will be officiating.
Burial will take plave in the Pine Grove Cemetery in Spencer. Arrangements
are by the Robinson Funeral Home in Melrose.
Memorial gifts may be sent to either: Melrose-Wakefield Hospital, 585
Lebanon St., Melrose or the Memorial Fund of the First Congregational
Church, 121 W. Foster St., Melrose.
