Harold Dunaway

The Rev. Harold Dunaway, orthodox priest and founding pastor of Saint John Orthodox Cathedral in Eagle River, died Jan. 3, 2012, of a heart attack.

Funeral services are at Saint John Orthodox Cathedral, 18936 Monastery Drive, Eagle River. Funeral Vigil for a Priest is at 6 p.m., Jan. 6, with visitation at 7 p.m. A Divine Liturgy is at 9:15 a.m., Jan. 7. A burial service, followed by a "mercy meal" in the cathedral basement, is at 10:30 a.m., Jan. 7.

Fr. Harold was the eldest son born Jan. 1, 1929, in Maysville, Ky., to Jacob and Beatrice Dunaway. He had six younger sisters.

He managed to enlist in the Army near the end of World War II, then joined the Army Air Corps and served in Korea. Returning home, he became an insurance salesman in New Mexico, and in 1955 married Barbara Johnson from Kentucky. Together, they had three children, Marc, Michael and Luanne. Ten years later, amidst a successful career and with a growing family, Harold sold everything and entered seminary in Springfield, Mo. Two years later, he went on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ and was sent to Anchorage to serve the soldiers at Elmendorf and Fort Richardson. His family drove up the Alaska Highway in a Rambler station wagon, arriving in Anchorage Nov. 1, 1968, with $17 and promises from friends for regular support.

Harold had experienced what he called the forgiveness and grace of God and wanted to share this with others. His living room became a second home to many military men over the next few years, and from this ministry, which he shared with Barbara, came the founding of a church in Eagle River in 1977, which today is a parish within the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese. Hundreds of people were encouraged by Fr. Harold's country wisdom and grit. He retired as pastor in 1995.

Preceding him in death in January 2011 was his wife, Barbara. Now he is at home in Heaven and succeeded here by his three children, 10 grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, many grateful "spiritual" children and a troop of friends he greeted each day at Jitters Coffee Shop in Eagle River.

Valley Funeral Home and Crematory cared for the family.