Robert L. Dunlop
05/27/1958 - 08/05/2024
With deep sorrow, we honor the life of Robert L. Dunlop, who passed away in San Francisco, California on Monday, August 5, 2024. He was preceded in death by his cherished parents Leslie and Margaret Dunlop, and his younger brother Gregory Dunlop (2018). He is survived by his brothers Edward Dunlop (Laurie) and their children Alex and Hannah of Wilmington, North Carolina, James Dunlop (Susette) and their children Max and Cameron of Bethesda, Maryland, and many friends he made along his travels.
Bob was born in Holyoke Massachusetts and lived in numerous cities and states. However, he resided in San Francisco, California most of his adult life. He was a member of the Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao Do Vegetal religion (UDV) in the San Francisco area.
Bob attended Purdue University in West Lafayette Indiana and obtained a BA in Interpersonal Communication (1981) as well as a BS in Industrial Engineering (1985). He was also a foreign exchange student at the College of St. Mark and St. John in Plymouth, England (1979). In addition, he attended John F. Kennedy University in Pleasanton, California and obtained an MA in Transpersonal Psychology (1999).
Bob was known as dependable and earned the trust of those he knew. He had many talents which he applied to a variety of work positions, such as an industrial engineer, substitute teacher, counselor of street gang members, hotel management, and security guard.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the American Diabetes Association.
His family will often think of Bob and will miss him. A Celebration of Life will be held on October 26, 2024, from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM at 6930 Old Dominion Drive, McLean, Virginia.
We invite you to join us in honoring Bob's memory and life on this obituary page. The family will cherish your condolences, stories, and pictures and will use them to provide comfort during this difficult time.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by San Francisco Chronicle from Oct. 8 to Oct. 14, 2024.

Memories and Condolences
for Robert Dunlop

Sponsored by Pacific Interment - San Francisco.

3 Entries

Edward Dunlop

March 13, 2025

Burial at Sea
Your body was cremated, and the ashes were placed in a moving body of water, as you requested in your will. Your body was cremated in San Francisco. We decided to bury your ashes at sea. Your ashes were buried at sea on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, 30 November 2024. A fishing boat was chartered in the Outer Banks of North Carolina for a burial at sea. Your ashes were dropped in Oregon Inlet on a falling tide, which would carry your ashes out to sea. The Captain of the chartered boat gave us a poem to read prior to dropping your ashes. The poem is by Alfred, Lord Tennyson and is titled: "Crossing the Bar":

Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;

For tho from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crost the bar.

Edward Dunlop

March 13, 2025

Bob - I want to thank you for all you did for me throughout your life. Mom would tell me on occasion that you looked out for me when we were young boys. She said that you would pull me around the neighborhood on a sled in the winter. As adults we lived in different parts of the country. We would get to talk to each other on the phone or at family gatherings. I regret that I did not travel to see you more often than I did. I will miss being able to call you on the phone and the conversations we had.

One thing you talked about on our phone calls is the different places you were thinking about moving to. In memory of your desire to move to these places, I read the poem "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Ed

Kathryn Gorgos

October 10, 2024

Bob! You have no idea how much you will be missed. How do I put all the things you´ve done and the how amazing you are into a couple of paragraphs. I´ll try but I know I won´t do you justice...
You were always there as the big brother I never had. The one who kept track of the M&Ms when we were together. The one who sent us all bandanas when Covid first appeared so we would all be safe. Thank you!
I think you still have the bragging rights for eating the most pieces of cake at a wedding.
Thank you being there!! Thank you for your smile and your little laugh. Thank you for being you! We love you and you are missed!
Love,
Kat

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