Alex Dunne Tragedy
Sam Sloan
A terrible tragedy has occurred. The wife and grandson of Alex Dunne,
chess master and Chess Life columnist, has died in a fire in Sayre,
Pennsylvania, while Alex was away playing in a chess tournament.
http://www.eveningtimes.com/articles/2003/02/17/news/news1.txt
The Sayre Pennsylvania Evening Times Reports:
"SAYRE -- An early morning fire ripped through an East Side
Sayre home Sunday, claiming the lives of a 62-year-old woman and a
2-year-old boy.
"According to fire officials, just before 4 a.m., fire
companies from Athens, Sayre and Athens Township were called to 114 S.
East St. in Sayre for a structure fire that, by the time fire
personnel arrived, was already fully engulfed.
"The flames were coming through the roof by the time we
arrived," said assistant Sayre fire chief Robert Repasky.
"Killed in the early morning blaze were Janet Dunne and Ronald
"Buddy" Newman Jr.
"The official report lists grandmother and grandson living at
the residence at the time of the fire. Funeral arrangements are being
handled by Lowery Funeral Home in Athens. According to County Coroner
Eugene Farr, cause of death has not yet been released, pending an
autopsy."
Alex Dunne is a popular Chess Life correspondence chess columnist. He
writes "The Check is in the Mail".
Alex was playing at the US Amateur Team Championship East in
Parsippany, New Jersey at the time of the tragedy.
Sam Sloan
Neil Brennen
"Sam Sloan" <sl...@ishipress.com> wrote in message
news:3e519998...@ca.news.verio.net...
> Alex Dunne Tragedy
> A terrible tragedy has occurred. The wife and grandson of Alex Dunne,
> chess master and Chess Life columnist, has died in a fire in Sayre,
Unfortunately, in this instance everything Mr. Sloan has posted is true.
The Pennsylvania State Chess Federation is accepting donations for a fund to
be set up for Alex Dunne. Please make checks payable to "PSCF" and send them
to:
Dr. Ira Lee Riddle
400 Newtown Road,
Warminster PA 18974-5208
Please include a note indicating that the check is for the Alex Dunne Fund.
Contributions are tax-deductible under US law.
Joseph
wrote:
}Alex Dunne Tragedy
}
}A terrible tragedy has occurred. The wife and grandson of Alex Dunne,
}chess master and Chess Life columnist, has died in a fire in Sayre,
}Pennsylvania, while Alex was away playing in a chess tournament.
what a shame. I really feel for Mr. Dunne. I remember him writing me a
letter many years ago when I was kid on my chess instruction.
Joseph
I just went here:
Alex posted this himself.
http://correspondencechess.com/bbs/messages/39994.html
shows the horrible loss that he feels, it's really sad.
Bill Smythe
your newspaper quotes.
Bill Smythe
Sam Sloan
Thank you. He says:
All gone -- my wife, my grandchild, my 1100+ book collection, my Chess
Life and Chess Reviews 1933-2003, my house, my work -- all burned up
Sunday morning. A total loss
Christopher
"Neil Brennen" <chessne...@mindspring.com> wrote:
Guess this may in bad taste, but...my 'check's in the mail'.(sometimes
the living need some humor to cope) It's not a big check. I'm not well
off. But Alex Dunne has brought me so much insight and entertainment
thru the years that I feel I have to contribute.
I've also posted a synthesis of this thread on my chess blog
(www.somethingsrotten.com/oopsdeclared/index.html), and sent emails to
chess fans on my mailing list. Maybe they will help.
Most importantly, Alex, and the parents of the grandson, are in my
prayers. Especially Alex. This is a loss of Jobian proportions.
Christopher
Ralph
aftermath at:
http://www.thedailyreview.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=7078013&BRD=2276&PAG=461&dept_id=465049&rfi=6
Sam Sloan
Community rallying to help family of fire victims
By: WARREN HOWELER 02/20/2003
SAYRE - A Sayre couple have established a fund to help the remaining
family members of the two people who perished in a fatal fire Sunday
morning on the borough's east side.
Danette and James Dunfee have started the fund to help the family
members of 62-year-old Janet Dunne and her 2-year-old grandson Ronald
Newman Jr., both of whom died in the fire that destroyed the residence
at 114 S. East St. in Sayre.
Cash donations to help the Dunne family can be sent to Visions Federal
Credit Union, c/o the Dunne Family Fund, 803 N. Elmira St., Sayre, Pa.
18840.
The couple are also accepting donations of clothing and other such
items that would go to help the Dunne family. Those donations may be
dropped off at the Dunfees' residence, which is located at 149 Third
St. in Sayre.
For more information, contact Dannette Dunfee at (570) 888-2859 or by
e-mail at jamesd...@aol.com.
The investigation into the cause of the fire is continuing, according
to Sayre Borough Police.
Bradford County Coroner Eugene Farr determined that the deaths of both
Dunne and Newman were accidental, Sayre Police said.
Autopsies performed this week at the Lehigh Valley Medical Center in
Allentown determined that Dunne and Newman both died from smoke
inhalation, said Sayre Police.
The investigation is being handled by the Pennsylvania State Police
fire marshal, the Sayre Borough Police Department, the Sayre Borough
Fire Department and the Bradford County Coroner's Office.
Sayre Police stated that the alarm was called in at 3:49 a.m. Sunday
by a neighbor who heard glass breaking and saw flames in the
downstairs window of the residence.
Sayre Fire Chief Don Schrader noted that when firefighters arrived on
the scene, the second floor of the residence was completely involved.
Arriving first on the scene were officers from the Sayre Borough
Police Department, who attempted to enter the structure through the
front door and could not, Schrader said.
The officers then tried to enter the residence through the back door
and could not, he said.
"We were on defense for most of the day," he said, adding that
firefighters encountered intense heat, smoke and fire as they battled
the blaze. "We could not get in."
Firefighters were able to get the fire under control later that
morning, Schrader said.
He noted that firefighters returned to the station at 1:30 p.m.
The fire completely destroyed the residence and its contents, he said.
"It was a total loss," said Schrader.
Both victims were pronounced dead at the scene by Deputy Coroner
Connie Hurley.
Responding to the scene were fire departments from Sayre, Athens
Borough and Athens Township as well as the Valley Chapter of the
American Red Cross, Greater Valley Emergency Medical Services, the
Valley Salvation Army, and Tom Simonds and Son Excavating of Athens.
Two members of the Red Cross' disaster action team responded to the
scene and are continuing to assist the family.
"We are assisting the survivors with their immediate needs," said Jill
Deskins, executive director of the Valley Chapter of the American Red
Cross.
Valley Salvation Army Captain Lenny Wacenske, along with a network of
volunteers, was on hand to offer the emergency personnel warm drinks.
"It was below zero and the wind chill made it very cold," Wacenske
said. "We gave them refreshment to keep their energy up."
Wacenske, who is also the chaplain of the Sayre Fire Department,
explained that the scene was horrific, and that he and his helpers
were there for both emotional and physical support.
Family and friends of Dunne and Newman may call from 1 to 2 p.m. today
at the Lowery Funeral Home on 225 S. Main St. in Athens Borough.
Funeral and committal services will follow at 2 p.m. at the funeral
home with the Rev. Blaine Hill, pastor of the Waverly Presbyterian
Church, officiating
cDaily and Sunday Review 2003
Sam Sloan
Woman, child killed in Sayre fire
By: DENNIS LANTZ 02/17/2003
An early Sunday morning fire claimed two lives on East Street in
Sayre. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
SAYRE - An early Sunday morning fire on South East Street in Sayre
claimed the lives of an adult female and a child, according to
Bradford County Coroner Gordon Farr.
Sayre Borough police, who are investigating the cause of the fire,
could not release the names or ages of the victims before press time
because family members were still being notified.
Other sources and witnesses at the scene said that the victims were an
older female and a young child.
They believed that the two bodies that they saw emergency workers
carry from the burning house were of a grandmother and grandchild.
Valley firefighters got the call to go to 114 South East Street at
3:48 a.m., said Sayre's Fire Chief Don Schrader.
Neighbors were unsure who made the call and the police would not
reveal that information.
The Sayre, Athens and Athens Township fire departments responded to
the scene along with the Greater Valley EMS, the Salvation Army and
the Valley Chapter of the Red Cross.
The fire completely destroyed the house and its contents.
"It was a total loss," Schrader said.
Sayre Borough police were the first to respond to the scene, he said.
Firefighters were putting salt on the icy area around the property and
getting ready to leave noon on Sunday.
Two members of the Red Cross disaster action team responded to the
scene and are continuing to assist the family.
"We are assisting the survivors with their immediate needs," Jill
Deskins, Executive Director for the Valley Chapter of the American Red
Cross said.
Capt. Lenny Wacenske of the Valley Chapter of the Salvation Army,
along with a network of volunteers, was on hand to offer the emergency
personnel warm drinks.
"It was below zero and the wind chill made it very cold," Wacenske
said. "We gave them refreshment to keep their energy up."
Wacenske, also the chaplain for the Sayre Fire Department, explained
that the scene was horrific and that he and his helpers were there for
both emotionally and physical support.
According to the neighbors, Alex Dunne lived in the home with his
wife. Dunne's daughter and grandchild stayed there at times.
The police were unwilling to confirm any of this information.
One neighbor thought that Dunne was away for the weekend at a chess
tournament.
Helen Novak, a neighbor whose house was only a few yards from the
blaze, was awakened by a lot of pounding. She thought that someone was
trying to get in next door.
When she heard the fire trucks and the water, she looked out and saw
the fire.
"Flames were shooting out of the downstairs then it went upstairs,"
she said.
"It was devastating," she said.
"They were good neighbors," she said. "I didn't bother them and they
didn't bother me, but they would be there for me if I needed
anything."
Other neighbors called the Dunne family friendly.
The heat from the fire was so intense that it cracked the bay window
in Novak's kitchen which faces out to where the fire occurred.
"You could feel the heat," she said.
Mary Slutak, Helen's niece and a neighbor across the road, said when
she looked out the window of her house after hearing the fire trucks,
she could see flames shooting out of the bottom windows.
The police and firemen were very considerate and helped Helen across
the road, icy from the water being used to fight the fire, so that she
wasn't so near to the danger.
Another neighbor, Irene Novotny, said that she thought that the Dunne
family had lived at the residence for quite awhile. "Over ten years,"
she said.
Bradford County Coroner Gordon Farr said that autopsies will be
performed Tuesday morning at Lehigh Valley Medical Center in Allentown
to determine the cause of death.
Tom Klem
Is the locale, Sayre, PA?
Tom Klem
"Ralph" <smeye...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:bf128560.03022...@posting.google.com...
John Fernandez
Awful, just awful.
John Fernandez
StanB
"Tom Klem" <the...@lvcm.com> wrote in message
news:cW65a.15577$Hb.2...@news1.west.cox.net...
> Has a relief fund been established at the bank yet?
You may send checks care of Penn State Chess Federation to Ira Riddle or me:
Stan Booz, 252 W Swamp Rd, Ste 39, Doylestown, PA 18901.
All funds will be segregated and any disbursements for temp housing etc will
be made directly to the provider.
StanB
Darryl L. Pierce
> A real tragedy. There is an article and picture of the fire's
> aftermath at:
>
> http://www.thedailyreview.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=7078013&BRD=2276&PAG=461&dept_id=465049&rfi=6
Ah, jaysus, but the picture breaks your heart. My thoughts go out to him.
--
Darryl L. Pierce <mcpi...@databasix.com>
Visit the Infobahn Offramp - <http://bellsouthpwp.net/m/c/mcpierce>
"What do you care what other people think, Mr. Feynman?"