CHESTERTOWN, Md. – Elizabeth Polk Wheeler Dunn, 103, died May 30, 2009, at home. Born in Pittsburgh, Mrs. Dunn lived most of her life in Washington, D.C. She was married to William North Sturtevant in 1923. Subsequent to his death in 1968, she married Richard Price Dunn in 1974. She moved to Chestertown, Md., as a widow in 1994. She has two sons, William North Sturtevant II, a naval aviator who died during World War II, and Peter Albert Sturtevant, who survives her. She was actively engaged in Washington organizations. She was co-founder of Washington Antiques Show with Mrs. James Lemon, served with her as co-chair, from 1956-1969, and was still an interested and indomitable member of the board of trustees at the time of her death. Organized to raise funds for Thrift Shop Charities, the show has contributed more than $6,000,000 to them to date. Mrs. Dunn was president of the Junior League of Washington from 1937-1938. During World War II, she served as a nurse’s aide at Walter Reed Hospital and again during the Korean War. She was educated at Rosemary Hall, Greenwich, Conn., with the classic Latin, Greek and modern languages curriculum of the time. She spoke French and Spanish, and had a lifetime affinity for words, their parts and origins. She was a member of Sulgrave Club, Chevy Chase Club and Center Harbor Yacht Club, Brooklin. In addition to her son, Peter, she is survived by Mr. Dunn’s daughters, Adrian Bellinger of Chevy Chase, Md., and Agnes Burch of Princeton, N.J., and their children; by Peter Sturtevant’s children, her grandchildren, Elizabeth Sturtevant of Battle Ground, Wash., William North Sturtevant III of Durham, N.H., Peter A. Sturtevant Jr. of Bethesda, Md., and Thomas Knox Sturtevant of Mount Hermon, Mass.; as well as 12 great-grandchildren. She will be interred in Brooklin, where she spent more than 80 summers of her life. Arrangements by Fellows, Helfenbein & Newnam Funeral Home, 130 Speer Road, Chestertown, Md. www.fhnfuneralhome.com. “A long and strongly drawn circle ended in a peaceful and gracefully completed joining.”
ELIZABETH POLK WHEELER DUNN
