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Friends, family 'still in shock'
Outdoorsman and hydro plant operator Michael Dunn, 42, remembered as fun-loving spirit

Laura Busch
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, April 10, 2013

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Michael Dunn was a man who loved life, being out in the NWT wilderness, his family and his dog, according to those who knew him best.

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Michael Dunn died suddenly last Wednesday. Shown with his dog, Peyto Bill, he is remembered as a fun-loving outdoorsman with a large, close-knit group of friends. - photo courtesy of Facebook

"He was just full of life and, you know, a friend to everybody. It was impossible to stay mad at him," Michael's brother Kevin Dunn told Yellowknifer on Monday.

Family and friends are still reeling from Michael's sudden death. Michael, who worked as a hydro plant operator at the Bluefish Hydro site for the past two-and-a-half years, was found dead in a staff trailer on the site at about 2 p.m. last Wednesday.

He had just returned to work from the North Arm of Great Slave Lake, where he had spent the Easter long weekend with his fiance, Bonnie Leonardis, his two step-daughters and a few friends.

"I'm just still in shock and it's kind of a blur - I just can't believe it. He was just here with me on Tuesday," said Leonardis earlier this week.

Leonardis and Michael were high-school sweethearts who began dating when they were 16. The couple had gotten back together in 2010 and were planning to get married in Alberta at Michael's mother's horse ranch.

Leonardis said there were no warning signs before Michael died. He wasn't ill or complaining of any pain.

"We're trying to stay as positive as we can. The support we've been receiving from Yellowknifers and everybody has been just overwhelming. He has a lot of friends and a very good network of people around him," said Kevin. "A lot of his friends, too, they're taking it pretty hard - it was very sudden.

"I think we're sort of all still stunned and I think we're looking for some closure. I don't think we're going to get closure, really, until we get the medical results."

The results of an autopsy could take between four to six months, said Soura Rosen, deputy chief coroner for the NWT.

Since Michael passed away, Kevin and Leonardis say they have received "hundreds of calls" from family, friends and other well-wishers.

"He had friends and family all over the world, and he was just loved by everybody. So many people, he touched," said Leonardis. "We have so many close school friends, too. We all grew up here and it's a big gang."

To shed some light on how large Michael's group of friends was, Kevin said when the family was working on making a list of pallbearers, they originally came up with 52 names - and those were just his closest friends. The family is planning for about 400 people to attend Michael's funeral, and the following celebration of life, on Friday.

A funeral service has been planned for 2 p.m. at Northern United Place. Michael will be laid to rest at Lakeview Cemetery in a plot beside his younger brother. Afterward, there will be a celebration of life at the DND gymnasium.

Michael's parents, Sheila and Peter Dunn, who moved to Alberta after retiring, will return to Yellowknife for the funeral, as will Michael's four-year-old daughter Isabel Scott, who lives with her mother in Saskatchewan.

The Dunn family moved to Yellowknife from Calgary in 1982, when Michael was in Grade 7.

Michael was the middle child of three brothers, Kevin being the eldest.

Their younger brother, Stephen Dunn, died suddenly in 1992 at 17 years old.

"When we lost our brother ... it was really tough. I was away at university so we came back (for Stephen's funeral)," said Kevin. "Having this happen to my family twice now, it's been ... very overwhelming, I don't know how else to say it."

Michael made Yellowknife his chosen home, returning to the North after studying to become an aircraft maintenance engineer.

He stayed in Yellowknife because he loved the lifestyle, said Kevin. Above all, he loved being out in the wilderness hunting.

He and his three-legged 10-year-old Karelian bear dog Peyto Bill were almost inseparable. Peyto Bill would usually accompany Michael into the bush, and took to curling up in his master's sleeping bag to ensure he stayed warm when temperatures were cold, said Leonardis.

More often than not, Peyto Bill would also go to work with Michael. However, he was not at Bluefish the week Michael died.

Michael liked to hunt big game, usually looking for moose, but was not the most organized of hunters.

"He would just go willy-nilly," said Kevin.

Michael's favourite role in the bush, and elsewhere, was to keep everyone entertained and fed. He could cook just about anything over a camp fire, said Kevin.

One of Kevin's favourite memories of his brother is the 10 days the pair spent hunting wolves on the tundra north of McKay Lake last spring. For nearly two weeks in -35 C, the two lived in a wall tent they carried with them. Their hard work paid off and they brought down 11 wolves in the 10 days they were out there.

"That's just Michael," said Kevin. "He was a little lucky that way."

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