Gordon Glover "Slinger" Dunn (April 16, 1912 – July 26, 1964) was an American

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disk (mathematics), disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an classical antiqui ...

er who won a silver medal at the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

, a U.S. Navy lieutenant, and former mayor of

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, makin ...

from 1949-1957. Godron Dunn was born April 16, 1912, to William F. Dunn and Olive C. Glover in Portland, Oregon. Dunn's father, William F. Dunn once served as the deputy city clerk for Fresno. Shortly after Dunn was born, the family moved home to Fresno, where the Dunn family had lived since the 1880s. Dunn's paternal grandfather, Thomas Dunn, was a pioneer resident of Fresno, a former councilmember, and potential mayoral candidate. Dunn Avenue is named for his grandfather, Thomas Dunn. Dunn graduated from

Fresno High School Fresno High School is a four-year secondary school located in Fresno, California. Fresno High is the oldest high school in the Fresno metropolitan area and one of the few International Baccalaureate schools. As of 2021, Linda Laettner is the 29th a ...

and attended

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. Dunn's penchant for track and field, and specifically discus throw, allowed him to continue these sports through both high school and college. Earlier in 1934 he won the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

and

IC4A IC4A Championships (Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America) is an annual men's competition held at different colleges every year. Association was established in 1875, the competition (started in 1876) served as the top level col ...

titles. After college, Dunn remained in Menlo Park.

1936 Berlin Olympics

Dunn participated in the discus competition for the United States Olympic Team at the

Berlin, Germany Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constituent ...

. Dunn qualified in second position behind fellow U.S. Olympian Ken Carpenter. In the Final round, Dunn threw for 49.36 meters (161 feet, 10 3/4 inches) earning him a

Silver Medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

. The 1936 Olympics would be Dunn's first and only appearance due to the next Olympic games not occurring again until

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

as a result of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Military service

Dunn returned to Menlo Park, where he divorced is first wife, Marjorie Kitselman, in 1938. He married Naomi McCool shortly after the divorce and moved back to his birthplace of Portland where he took a job working as a merchandizing salesman for Associated Oil. In 1942, Dunn joined the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

and became a

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

Office of Naval Intelligence The Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) is the military intelligence agency of the United States Navy. Established in 1882 primarily to advance the Navy's modernization efforts, it is the oldest member of the U.S. Intelligence Community and serves ...

for the duration of the war.

Political career

Dunn ran for mayor in April 1949 under a platform of cleaning up the city. Dunn won the election over incumbent Mayor Glenn M. DeVore. When elected, he was the youngest mayor of Fresno at the time. During his first term, he led raids on bordellos and gambling dens. In addition, he sought to regulate pinball machines to outlaw their use for gambling in the city. Dunn also pushed for conversion of the Downtown Fresno streets to one-way traffic to lessen traffic gridlock, the upgrade of paving of the city streets, and the removal of street parking in favor of surface parking. Dunn also outlawed street racing amongst firefighters. For his zest in fighting crime and bringing order on city employees he qualified for the new nickname of "No-Fun Dunn." He frequented going to fire and police meeting and events, and is known to have had both red lights and a siren installed on his personal vehicle. Gordon ran for a second term in 1953 and won with 65% of the vote. His second term would see a similar platforms as his first term including significant increases to the

Fresno Police Department The Fresno Police Department (FPD) is the municipal police department for Fresno, California. Their headquarters is located at 2323 Mariposa Mall. Paco Balderama is the current Chief of Police for the Fresno Police Department since January 11, 2 ...

staff rosters and budget. Dunn ran in 1957 for a third term and lost to

C. Cal Evans Charles Calvin Evans was a real estate agent and Fresno mayor for 364 days from April 22, 1957, to April 21, 1958. As of 2020, Evans term as mayor of Fresno, California is the shortest term not resulting from succession appointment in the city's ...

. In 1958 the city charter was approved and the mayoral office was to be voted on again. Dunn ran in 1958 again for a third term but came in third place behind Evans and Arthur L. Selland.

Post-political career

Dunn left Fresno and moved to

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

where he resided until death. In 1964, Gordon Dunn was inducted into the Fresno County Athletic Hall of Fame. On July 26, 1964, Gordon Dunn died of a heart attack at the age of 52, the same cause of death that took his grandfather 51 years earlier.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunn, Gordon 1912 births 1964 deaths Track and field athletes from Portland, Oregon Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics American male discus throwers Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field Stanford Cardinal men's track and field athletes Track and field athletes from California Medalists at the 1936 Summer Olympics Mayors of Fresno, California