Forrest Dunn - Early Years, Family, Business

Early Years, Family, Business

Dunn was born in Plain Dealing in northern Bossier Parish to George Forrest Dunn, Sr., and the former Gladys Malone. The senior Dunn was a native of Bradley, a village in Lafayette County (pronounced LA FAYE ETTE) in far southwestern Arkansas, located just north of the Louisiana boundary. He was an automobile mechanic. Two other Louisiana Democratic political figures also have roots in tiny Plain Dealing: former U.S. Representative Joe David "Joe D." Waggonner, Jr., and the late state Treasurer A.P. Tugwell.

Dunn attended Bossier High School, did not graduate, but obtained a General Equivalency Diploma in 1947. He served two years in the United States Navy, having been stationed aboard the U.S.S. Richmond.

While they were still teenagers, Dunn married the former Rachel Nelson (also born 1928). The couple had three children: Linda Dunn Turner (born 1947), Robby Jack Dunn (born 1949), and James Forrest "Jimmy" Dunn (1952–1985), who perished in an automobile accident in Oklahoma. The Dunns subsequently divorced, and Forrest Dunn married the former Donna Young (born 1943). The first Mrs. Dunn later married former State Senator Donald Wayne Williamson, originally from Vivian in northern Caddo Parish, and later of Shreveport. Williamson was widowed from his first wife, the former Norma Herring of Vivian. Williamson, like Dunn, spent years in the furniture business. Dunn had two brothers, George Ellis Dunn (1939–2002) and James Wayne Dunn, who died in 2004.

Dunn was a salesman prior to launching Dunn Furntiure Company, which operated for three decades: 1955-1985. The main location was at 4001 Jewella Avenue in Shreveport, and a second outlet was launched on Line Avenue. Son Robby Dunn assisted in the store for a number of years and later ran a flea market. Dunn said that so many changes had occurred in the production, marketing, and sale of furniture over the years that it was "too much to mention."

Four years after the furniture store closed, Dunn accepted an appointment from the Republican Secretary of State W. Fox McKeithen, to head the state museum, which is located on the site of the Louisiana State Fair. As museum administrator, Dunn has worked to bring to Shreveport new exhibits of interest to a wide segment of the community, including an acclaimed display on Huey Pierce Long, Jr., and Earl Kemp Long.

Dunn is a member of the Downtown Shreveport Rotary International, one of the largest such clubs in the United States. He is a member of St. Marks' Episcopal Church on Rutherford Street in Shreveport.