Stanislaus John Dundon

Dr. Stanislaus “Stan” John Dundon was born John Sherman Dundon on July 18th, 1935 in Whitefish Bay, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was the sixth born in a family of nine siblings. He attended seminary at Holy Hill and was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1962. After a few years he realized his true vocation was to be a husband and father and was released from the priesthood. However, he remained a devout Catholic and attended daily mass for the majority of his long life.

In 1970 Stan married Cecilia “CeeCee” Krasnow of New York and the two moved to San Luis Obispo, CA. They had 6 children together before CeeCee passed away of lymphoma in 1989.

Always a scholar, Stan had written his dissertation on Sir Isaac Newton and the intersection of religion and science, with the majority of his studies focused on physics. He received his doctorate from St. John’s University in New York in 1968. In 1986 he witnessed the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger and became fascinated with the ethical implications. As such, he shifted his focus to ethics and spearheaded the development of the Agricultural ethics program at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. After CeeCee’s passing, he took a sabbatical with the family at UC Davis where he met his second wife, Christine, who had two young children from a previous marriage. They were married in July 1990 and had one more child together in May 1991, bringing the combined family to nine children.

Stan was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre in November 1991 and was paralyzed from the eyes down for three months. Despite medical opinions that he would never walk again, he fought a hard battle to recover fully and within a few years was running, cycling, and swimming. Even when fighting other health battles he continued an active lifestyle into his eighties.

After UC Davis, Stan went on to teach at California State University, Sacramento until he retired in 2009. He spent his early retirement substitute teaching at the Davis Unified School District, which he enjoyed immensely and was affectionately referred to as “Dr. D”. He and Christine moved to Paso Robles in 2021 to be closer to their children and grandchildren who live in the area. He passed away at home in the early hours of March 14th, 2025 after a brief battle with colon cancer. He is survived by his wife Christine, three (?) of his siblings, all nine children, and fourteen grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held at St. Rose of Lima Church in Paso Robles on Friday May 2nd, 2025 at 11:00 AM. Please reach out to the family if you are planning to attend.