Mr. Christopher P. Dunne

Christopher P. Dunne, 21, 'natural teacher'Boston Globe Online / Obituaries / Christopher P. Dunne, 21, 'natural teacher',obt,/dailyglobe2/228/obituaries/Christopher P Dunne 21 natural teacher +.shtml,/dailyglobe2/228/obituaries/Christopher P Dunne 21 natural teacher -.shtml,,Christopher P. Dunne, a businessman, sports fan, skier, traveler, and community volunteer, died Aug. 9 following routine surgery related to a birth defect.
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Christopher P. Dunne, 21, 'natural teacher'
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Mr. Dunne was born in Winchester with spina bifida, a neural tube defect that prevented his spine from forming correctly.He was paralyzed from the waist down, but according to friends and colleagues, his disability simply kept him from walking.

"He accomplished an awful lot in his short life," said Peter Garipay, who was assistant principal at Melrose High School when Mr. Dunne was a student there.
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Garipay said that before graduating from high school in 2001, Mr. Dunne sent a letter to the principal, Dr. Daniel R. Burke, outlining the obstacles the building posed for disabled students.
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Burke and Garipay credit Mr. Dunne with opening up the top tier of the multistoried cafeteria to all students.
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Burke said that Mr. Dunne was an inspiration to other students who use wheelchairs.
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Upon graduation, Mr. Dunne was awarded the Claude H. Croston Award, which was named for a former principal of Melrose High School and is given to a graduating student who has overcome difficult life circumstances.
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Colleen Snow, who graduated with Mr. Dunne, had been a close friend since they met in first grade.
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The friendship formed as the two worked on school projects together, then evolved into kayaking, rowing on the Charles River, attending the junior prom together, and going to Red Sox games, to which Mr. Dunne had season tickets.

"You could never leave," she said of Mr. Dunne's devotion to the games."The Red Sox could be up 25 to 4 and you weren't allowed to leave until the last batter was up."

At the time of his death, Mr. Dunne was attending Bunker Hill Community College and working in the office of Breakheart Reservation, a Saugus park run by the Urban Parks Division of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.
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An avid sports fan, Mr. Dunne recently became a Patriots season ticket holder.He loved to travel and was expected to go on a cruise this week.

Mr. Dunne also volunteered at Melrose-Wakefield Hospital, the Stride Rite Corp., and taught CCD classes at St. Mary's Church in Melrose.
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In addition to his mother, Mr. Dunne leaves his father, Richard C.; a brother, Brian F. of Melrose; his grandfather, Donald Corcoran of Melrose; and his grandmothers, Shirley (Crocker) Corcoran of Melrose and Edna P. (Boudrot) of Newton.