Dr. Frances Marie Shaw Dunn

Funeral service for Dr. Frances Marie Shaw Dunn will be 10 a.m. Monday, February 21, 2011 in the chapel of Blanchard St. Denis Funeral Home with Reverend Thomas Rush and Lee Dickson officiating. Interment will follow at Memory Lawn Cemetery, Natchitoches, LA. The family will receive friends from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. on Sunday, February 20, 2011 at Blanchard St. Denis Funeral Home. Dr. Dunn, 93 years of age, passed away February 18, 2011. She was born January 22, 1918 to the late James Leonidas Shaw and late Frances Lucinda Slayter Shaw in Dry Prong, LA. Dr. Dunn began her teaching career in Grant Parish for seven years before accepting a position with Northwestern State University. She was a faculty member of the Home Economics Department at NSU from 1944 to 1963 and served as the department head from 1963 to 1972. In 1992, Northwestern named its Child Development Center in honor of Dr. Marie Shaw Dunn. Dr. Dunn initiated the child development program at NSU. The center was the first nursery school laboratory in Louisiana to involve college students with young children. Dr. Dunn earned her teaching certificate from Louisiana Normal College and later earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Louisiana College. Dr. Dunn received her Masters degree in child development from LSU and her Doctorate in marriage and family life from Florida State University. She received honors from Omicron Nu, Phi Kappa Phi, Kappa Delta Pi and Delta Kappa Gamma. Dr. Dunn was a member of many professional organizations including The American and Louisiana Home Economics Association and the Family Relations Council of Louisiana. She was widely published on the subject of family life. Marie was a long time member of the First Baptist Church and served as the faculty advisor for the Baptist Student Union at Northwestern State University. She was preceded in death by her husband Mercer Dunn; brothers, Melvin Shaw and John Earl Shaw. Those left to cherish her memory include her brother, Bill Shaw and his wife Justine of Natchitoches; sisters, Kayla Brossett and her husband A.L. of Alexandria, Ruby Neighbors of Palestine, TX, and Rita Walters of Lake Charles; as well as numerous nieces, nephews and many friends. Those honored to serve as pallbearers include Bill Shaw, Jr., Keith Brossett, John Shaw, Joe Cochran, Kelly Vigo, and Jacob Shaw. Honorary pallbearers will be Bill Shaw, Sr., Al Brossett, Bobby Shaw, James Shaw, Richard Shaw, Bart Glatt, Jim Shaw and John McTyre. In memory of Dr. Marie Dunn, memorials may be sent to the Marie Shaw Dunn Child Development Center at Northwestern State University, Natchitoches, LA 71497.