James L. Dun
James (Jim) Landale Dun died on Jan. 22, 2021. He died of pulmonary fibrosis, and he was brave and uncomplaining throughout its trials. He was 84 years old.
Jim grew up in Staten Island, New York and Summit, New Jersey, but he was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on Aug. 7, 1936. His parents, Alice Whyte Alexander Dun and Andrew Landale Dun were Scottish. They ensured that Jim and his sister, Elizabeth Ann (Dun) Colten, maintained close connections to their relatives and to Scottish culture and traditions.
Jim himself married a first-generation Scottish-American and long-time family friend, Doreen Joyce Crawford. Doreen and Jim were married on Dec. 2, 1967. Last December, they celebrated their 53rd wedding anniversary. Doreen was the light of Jim’s life.
He came to the United States in 1900 as an immigrant from Ireland. Within a short time, he was operating a section of one of the nationâs most historical railroads.
Brian Curry ran one of the lift stations on the Ashley Planes, an engineering marvel that allowed the transport of anthracite coal mined in the Wyoming Valley to cross mountains for shipment south to the canal system that pre-dated railroads.
Curryâs powerhouse was at the top of the second of three planes that rose out of Ashley, ending in Fairview Twp. where the Penobscot Yard of the Central Railroad of New Jersey would emerge as a major cog in the local coal shipping industry.