John Stewart Dunbar III

A funeral service for John S. Dunbar III, 85, will be held at 1:00 p.m. Wednesday, July 28, 2021 at Dunbar Funeral Home, Devine Street Chapel. Reverend Jeff Kersey and Reverend Bill Bouknight will officiate the service. Pallbearers will be Travis Hancock, Mac Sawyer, Bishop Sawyer, Morris Lyles, Dunbar Lyles and Harley Lyles. A private burial will be held in Elmwood Cemetery, officiated by Reverend Dr. Lynn A. Grandsire.

A reception and visitation with family and friends will be held 5 until 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, July 27, 2021, at Forest Lake Club, 340 Country Club Drive, Columbia.

Mr. Dunbar died peacefully Thursday, July 22, 2021. Born in Columbia, he was a son of the late John S. Dunbar Jr. and Elaine Harley Dunbar. A 1954 graduate of Dreher High School, he was honored to be voted by his classmates as “Most Considerate”. Following service in the U.S. Army, he graduated from Dallas Institute-Gupton-Jones College of Mortuary Science in Dallas, Texas where he received the Dean’s Award for outstanding scholastic achievement. He began his 65 year career by becoming a licensed funeral director and embalmer. He worked to eventually become President and owner of Dunbar Funeral Home. He served as president of the S.C. State Board of Funeral Service in 1984 and was a former member of both the S.C. Funeral Directors’ Association and the National Funeral Directors’ Association.

Mr. Dunbar was a longtime member of Eastminster Presbyterian Church, having joined in the Pioneer Department as a child of a charter member. He was a member of Forest Lake Club, The Camellia Ball and served as president of the Columbia Sertoma Club. John and his late wife, Jane, established the Dunbar Center for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) program through the University of S.C. School of Medicine.

Mr. Dunbar was a sportsman who loved the outdoors. He was happiest when he was bird hunting with his trained dogs. He had the love of fishing and would never tell the location of his fishing hole. In earlier years, he rode his horse Rebel at Webb’s Riding School and in all the local shows. He and his wife Jane loved to dance. They enjoyed shagging at the beach in their youth and were members of the Caprician Club.

Mr. Dunbar was an avid competitive golfer beginning when he was 11 years old. He played a couple of times a week with a foursome of good friends. He was the winner of the 2008 Forest Lake Club Super Senior Championship.

Surviving are his daughters, Laine Dunbar and her husband, David Hancock, Betsy Dunbar Sawyer and her husband, Val, both of Columbia; his sister, Baylis Dunbar Kuhne and her husband, Rupert of Columbia; grandchildren, Travis Hancock and his wife, Lexi, Carrie Brown and her husband, Lucas, Mac Sawyer, Bishop Sawyer and his wife, Rachel, and Landon Sawyer; great-grandchildren, Reece Brown, Mason Brown, Chase Hancock, Noah Hancock, Quinn Sawyer Gladson, Ben Sawyer, and Elaina Sawyer. In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by his wife, Jane Coker Dunbar and granddaughter, Amanda Jane Hancock.

The family wishes to express their deepest gratitude to the nurses, caregivers and staff at Westminster Memory Care, Lexington.

Memorials may be made to Camp Cole, 1519 Richland Street, Columbia, SC 29201 or Eastminster Presbyterian Church, 3200 Trenholm Road, Columbia, SC 29204.

Online Condolences: Dunbar Funeral Home

 

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