Edgar Brown "Ed" Dunlap

Mr. Edgar Brown "Ed" Dunlap Jr., 87, of Gainesville died Friday, Jan. 6, 2012, at his residence following a brief illness.

The family will receive friends from 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 8, at Memorial Park North Riverside Chapel.

Mr. Dunlap was born in the old Downey Hospital in Gainesville Aug. 7, 1924, the son of the late Edgar Brown Dunlap Sr. and Katharine Anderson Dunlap.

He graduated from Gainesville High School, attended The Citadel and graduated from the University of Georgia. Very patriotic, Mr. Dunlap volunteered for the U.S. Army as soon as he turned 17 while still attending the University of Georgia. He turned down an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy to begin a tour of duty in the Pacific Theater. He was stationed in Japan after the Japanese surrender.

After graduating from college, Mr. Dunlap returned to Gainesville, where he worked in the insurance business and operated an egg farm and poultry supply company before forming his real estate business, Dunlap and Associates. He and his son David developed 15 subdivisions in Hall County.

A longtime Kiwanian, Mr. Dunlap served as president of the Gainesville Kiwanis Club. He was proud of his heritage and ancestors who dated back to Hall County's earliest days. He studied and was familiar with the history of North Georgia and had served on the board of directors of the Northeast Georgia History Center at Brenau University. Mr. Dunlap loved to tell his friends stories from Hall County's past and about his prominent family who were instrumental in many important developments in the area.

A lover of horses and other animals since childhood, he became an expert rider and owned several horses over the years. He also loved the outdoors, and took his family on numerous camping vacations and ski trips. His friend, former Gov. Carl Sanders, appointed him to the Georgia Game and Fish Commission. He was an avid hunter and fisher. He asked that his epitaph read, "And He Loved the Land."

Mr. Dunlap loved to cook and one time attended a cooking school in France. He also was a collector of various artifacts, most related to this area's history.

Mr. Dunlap was preceded in death by his parents; wife Anne Bleakley Dunlap; brother James A. (Bubba) Dunlap, and sister Minnie Fuller.

He is survived by his wife, Charlon Dunlap; daughter and son-in-law, Neal and Eddie Hughs and their children Edwin Fennell IV (Skeeter) and Anne Bleakley; son and daughter-in-law, David and Eleanor Dunlap and their children, David Anderson, Edgar Brown, Graham William, Katherine Anne, Bleakley (Blake) Philips; daughter-in-law, Melissa Erin and Joy Cain of Gainesville; step-children, Charlon Renee Ridgeley, William Travis Towe, Rebecka Denise Martin; step-children-in-laws, Matthew Selman, Yulia Makovetfka, Edward Martin, step-grandchildren, Willa Renee Selman, Honor Anne Charlon Selman, Sophia Josephine Towe, Edward Knox Martin, III, William Riley Martin and Madelon Rebecka Martin.

The family would like to request contributions be made to Northeast Georgia History Museum 322 Academy Street Northeast Gainesville, GA 30501-3302, (770) 297-5900 and Eagle Ranch 5500 Union Church Road Flowery Branch, GA 30542-5216, (770) 967-8500.

Memorial Park North Riverside Chapel, 989 Riverside Drive Gainesville, GA 30501. 770-297-6200. Online condolences at www.memorialparkfuneralhomes.com