A FRIENDSHIP ACROSS THE AGES

Feb. 25--A five-piece band played hits from 1950s in the activities hall. William "Bill" Dunn had been listening to the music, but got up to meet his friend, Thomas Bouldin, in the adjoining room.

They spent a few minutes catching up. Two women, a staff member at Bethesda Gardens Senior Living Community and a chaplain, briefly greeted Dunn as he and Bouldin talked. The subject turned to family. Dunn reminisced about his late wife, who died in 2003.

"She was a good dancer," Dunn said, grinning at Bouldin. "And she should be here, but she got cancer of the pancreas."

"My grandma passed away from the same thing," Bouldin responded. "Someday it will be cured."

They've discovered the effects of cancer and other things in common since last fall. That's when the friendship began for Dunn, who's 94 years old, and Bouldin, 21.

It started when Bouldin drew the assignment of interviewing a complete stranger at an assisted living facility as part of a semester-long project in his society and aging class at Indiana State University. He phoned Bethesda Gardens and spoke to executive director Lisa Dashiell. "She said, 'We have just the guy for you,'" Bouldin recalled. It was Dunn.

Soon, Bouldin began meeting with the man 73 years his senior. The ISU senior realized Dunn had a bundle of energy and plenty of stories from a colorful life. In his term paper about Dunn, Bouldin wrote, "Mr. Dunn is 94 years old and still sharper than a needle. He is very intelligent, healthy, and has a great overall quality of life. He gets around without the use of a wheelchair or cane and honestly could outwork people 20 years younger than him."

Dunn actually did just that. He worked at Grand Traverse Pie Co. on North Third Street until 2010, when he moved into Bethesda Gardens. Then 86, Dunn called himself "the oldest bus boy in Terre Haute."

His zest for living made Bouldin's project, and the friendship that developed from it, easier. For Bouldin, their visits became a respite from the demands of college, where he also served as the record-setting punter for ISU's football team. Bethesda Gardens' atmosphere put Bouldin at ease.

"The main joy I get from coming here, aside from just being with Bill, is that you're totally disconnected from college," Bouldin said. What could've felt like an academic chore "became an enjoyment to come down here, get out of the classrooms and football practices and play some skee ball."

Both men grew up in large metropolitan areas before moving to Terre Haute, albeit decades apart. Bouldin hails from Brea, California, just 33 miles from Los Angeles. He played two seasons at Fullerton Community College in California before a scholarship offer brought him to ISU. Bouldin distinguished himself despite the Sycamores' winless 2017 season, booming a 90-yard punt against Southern Illinois that broke school and Missouri Valley Football Conference records. He's a criminology and criminal justice major who'll graduate in May.

Dunn is a Chicago native. Born there in 1923, he attended his first Chicago Cubs game a year later in the arms of his mother. She listened to Cubs games on the radio and took Dunn and his brothers on the train to Wrigley Field on Fridays, Ladies Day. His parents raised their family in an apartment during the 1920s. When the Great Depression hit, Bill's dad moved the family to Hammond where his dad, Ralph Dunn, and business partner Harold Miner opened Miner-Dunn Hamburgers, a restaurant that remains a Hoosier institution.

Dunn's favorite meal remains the classic combo served at his dad's burger joint -- a hamburger, fries and its signature orange sherbet drink. Bill worked there for his dad through high school. A waitress at the diner, Billie, became Bill's wife of 54 years. Dunn attended Indiana Central College (now the University of Indianapolis) for a year, then enlisted in the U.S. Navy after World War II began. He served on a destroyer ship until his discharge in the spring of 1946. After the war, he took a job selling insurance in Gary, a role he filled for 30 years as he and his wife raised two kids.

The Dunns moved to Terre Haute, where his wife's parents lived, in 1978. Bill retired from the insurance business, but worked other jobs for several years. It was during that relocation that Dunn developed a new interest, which continues today. He and the family moved into a house next door to her uncle, who introduced Bill to the card game euchre.

"He said, 'You're going to thank me someday because everybody in Terre Haute knows how to play euchre.' And he was right," Dunn said last week as Bouldin listened and grinned. "I'd never heard of euchre till I moved to Terre Haute." Now, euchre is a regular feature on Dunn's daily routine, alongside trips to the fitness room.

As the band in the activities hall played, Dunn said, "When the entertainment's over, we'll get a euchre game going."

Bouldin has enjoyed learning about Dunn's interests and background. It's a rich story. Dunn wrote a book, "Retired at 16," about his uncle, William Dunn, who became a renowned war correspondent, who chronicled Gen. Douglas MacArthur's return to the Philippines and authored books such as "Pacific Microphone." The title of Bill's book comes from a quip by Bill's dad. "My dad said, 'Retired at 16,' because after my uncle got [to that age], everything he did was what he wanted to do," Bill said.

He and Bouldin laughed as he told that story.

The experience of meeting and becoming friends with Dunn reminds Bouldin of the Mitch Albom story, "Tuesdays with Morrie." Albom reconnected with one of his college professors late in the educator's life, meeting weekly and recounted their renewed relationship in a book and subsequent TV movie.

"There's so much that Bill can teach Thomas or tell Thomas," said Dashiell, the Bethesda executive director. "And, Thomas brings so much joy to Bill. And they've discovered that."

Asked last week what advice he'd give Bouldin, Dunn said, "Just do the best you can. And, if at all possible, whatever your hobby is should be your work."

His young friend responded, "Well, that's the plan. I love hunting and fishing, so I want to be a conservation officer." Bouldin intends to attend a conservation officer academy after graduating in May. He plans to work in Indiana, and wants to continue visiting Bill at Bethesda. Bouldin has three of his own grandparents still living, and is close with them. He sees Bill as a grandfatherly friend.

"He's got a total outlook on life that's positive," Bouldin said. "Even in the negatives, he sees the positives."

Bouldin summed up their friendship in his term paper. "I also learned to cherish the little moments in my life a lot more than I originally did," he wrote. "Seeing William talk about the smallest things and remembering some of the memories he shared growing up, which in the [moment] seemed like nothing, suddenly make him smile and laugh.

"I hope I can get to that [point]," Bouldin added, "where no matter where my life takes me, I can find the positive in anything I do."

Mark Bennett can be reached at 812-231-4377 or mark.bennett@tribstar.com.

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