LOTI DUNN

DUNN LOTI DUNN Loti Dunn loved color, clever wordplay, and most especially people-close friends and strangers alike. She passed away on Decenber 19, 2020. She was born Loti Rhett Kennedy in 1939, in Camden, South Carolina. She attended high school in Charleston, as a resident at Ashley Hall, where she participated in the high society of her day. While in high school she won a national merit scholarship in mathematics. She attended Sweet Briar College in Virginia for two years before marrying Carroll Savage of Camden in 1960. Loti and Carroll moved to Cambridge, MA where she continued her education at Radcliff for one year while Carroll attended Harvard Law School. During that period, Loti joined Carroll's study groups, impressing the all male law students with her keen mind. In Cambridge, Loti became pregnant with her first child, son Rhett. When Carroll graduated from law school the young family resettled in Old Town Alexandria, VA in 1963. Loti's daughter Eliza was born one year later. In 1969, Loti and Carroll bought a 1780 townhouse on the 400 block of South Lee street in Old Town, built by General Daniel Roberdeau, who served in the Revolutionary War and later in Congress. At the time, the house was in derelict condition and occupied by tenants in its top three floors. As each tenant moved on, Loti and Carroll restored those sections of the house, doing much of the work with their own hands. In addition to being a devoted mother, during the 1970s Loti became part owner of the Why Not? shop in Old Town, Alexandria. The iconic store originally specialized in toys and children's clothing, but upon Loti's arrival the business expanded to include boutique women's clothing and novelties, which eventually occupied the entire ground floor. Loti's eye for style was evident in the clothing she selected and artfully displayed in the shop. Outgoing and friendly by nature, Loti made many lifelong friends and connections while involved in Why Not?. Loti loved making things by hand, cleverly repairing or jerry-rigging alternatives for necessary items. She and Carroll built an elaborate replica of an historic Old Town townhouse as a dollhouse for Eliza, and Loti used her jigsaw and sewing skill to create elegant miniature furniture which brought the dollhouse to life. In 1976 she and Carroll divorced, and two years later Loti married Stewart Dunn. Accompanied by Stew, she moved back into the Roberdeau house, and the pair threw themselves into the civic life of Alexandria. Loti was particularly active with the Alexandria Scholarship Fund, feeling it serves a vital role in helping bright, disadvantaged high school students realize their dreams of attending college. Inspired by Stew's involvement, Loti became a dedicated supporter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Loti loved listening to and making music. When she was growing up, her family sang harmony and rounds together, and throughout her years in Old Town she sang alto in a choir of friends at the annual neighborhood Christmas party. On piano she taught herself to play some of her favorite music, including the Moonlight Sonata and Rhapsody in Blue. She whistled frequently and joyfully, with perfect pitch and tone. She and Stewart enjoyed listening to music together nightly, and regularly attended and supported the Alexandria and National Symphony Orchestras. Throughout her life, Loti adeptly sketched friends and family. Beginning in the 1980s, she began painting and became an accomplished sculptor, training and working in the recently refurbished Torpedo Factory art school. A source of deep connection for Loti all her life was the time she spent each year in her Camden family's summer home in the small town of Flat Rock, North Carolina, in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. In summers as a child there, ever accompanied by the sound of the nearby waterfall, Loti developed a strong affinity with the beauty and rich history of the mountains. She continued to visit Flat Rock with her adult children until her last few years, and her love for the place lives on in them. Loti adored her six grandchildren, always thinking of ways to enrich their lives and delighting in their company. Loti's beautiful smile was universally noted, through to her last days. She is remembered (to quote a few friends) as "beautiful, multi-talented," "lively and witty," and "a star and good friend" who extended "a gracious hand of love and friendship." The physician who attended her in her final years expressed it well: "I am a better person for having known her." In lieu of sending flowers, to honor Loti please consider smiling to whoever you meet. Those wishing to donate in her memory would honor Loti by contributing to young people's futures through the Alexandria Scholarship Fund.In lieu of sending flowers, to honor Loti please consider smiling to whoever you meet. Those wishing to donate in her memory would honor Loti by contributing to young people's futures through the Alexandria Scholarship Fund.