Randy Dunham, Sr

Randy Dunham was the son of the late Elisha Dunham and Dorothy (Gaymon) Dunham. Randy was born in City Hospital (now known as Bayview) on November 20, 1957, in Baltimore, Maryland and he was unexpectedly called home on January 19, 2024. Although Randy was the fourth of six children, he deemed himself as all the sibling’s baby brother. Randy was all things sports. As an eight-year-old, he would go with his older brother Larry, to the playground behind their house on Amity Street in West Baltimore to play basketball. On a basketball goal made from a milk crate and hung specifically for Randy, he would dunk on it and Larry would cheer and call him Gus Johnson (of the Baltimore Bullets). From that point he was affectionately called “Gus”. Randy’s love of sports grew from this point and he played basketball and baseball at James McHenry Recreation Center (School 10). Randy would talk to his father and brothers about sports all the time and when he finally hung up his hooping shoes, he became a mentor to anybody who sought his knowledge and wisdom. He was a remarkable basketball player, but always felt his height limited him from pursing basketball professionally. Randy received his education in the Baltimore City Public School System. At Carver Vocational Technical High School, he flourished in the trade of tailoring, even sewing a suit for himself and a dress for his date for Senior Prom. In addition to tailoring, Randy ran cross country and played basketball at Carver. After graduating in 1976, Randy completed 1 year of community college. Randy also loved his music which evolved from his days of singing with his childhood group, “The Young Challengers”, to winning talent shows. Randy’s favorite group was Earth, Wind & Fire and his favorite songs were “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” and “Reasons”. Randy was a hard worker and his employment included Polk Audio, Thrashers Custom Built Furniture as a computer saw operator, where he worked for 30 plus years and Tessco to name a few. Randy decided to retire in 2020, but, shortly thereafter, decided to work part-time at Amazon. Aside from being a son, brother, athlete, performer and hard worker, Randy was also an outstanding father, grandfather, great grandfather and husband. In 1980, Randy discovered the true meaning of “Your Overwhelming Love AND Affection” when his first daughter Yolanda Dunham was born. Yolanda lovingly says her father was and will always be her definition of perfection. After years of dating, Randy married Colita Watkins on September 2, 2000 and from that union came two daughters, Sharelle and Nakita Dunham and a son, Randy Anthony Dunham. If you were fortunate enough to be in his company, you would know that Randy was a gentle soul. The only time he ever raised his voice was to yell at the television during sports or to get his point across in a sports related debate. Other than that, “Randy wouldn’t crush a grape” and we will forever cherish his good morning text messages and his correspondences from his numerous Facebook accounts.

Tributes

Randy Dunham, Sr

November 20, 1957 - January 19, 2024