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 sport in which the participant athlete throws an oblate spheroid weight (object), weight called a discus in an attempt to mark a further distance than other competitors. It is a ...

er who won a silver medal at the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

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

Fresno, California Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

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 and attended

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. 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 College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

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 coll ...

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. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the highest population within its city limits of any city in the European Union. The city is also one of the states of ...

. 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, ...

. 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 officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus cau ...

as a result of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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 and became a Lieutenant Commander in

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 serv ...

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 staff rosters and budget. Dunn ran in 1957 for a third term and lost to C. Cal Evans. 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, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

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 20th-century mayors of places in California 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 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners 20th-century American sportsmen