Just over 20 years ago, the Del Ray community – and the region as a whole – was shaken to its core by the tragic loss of one of its own, Nancy Dunning.  Known as the “Queen of Del Ray,” Nancy was a mother, a wife, sister, daughter, aunt and to many, a friend. She was not only a realtor who helped bring new buyers and develop the Del Ray so many have come to love, but she was also a visionary who saw past what once was a troubled and underdeveloped neighborhood and helped turn “The Avenue” into what we see today.

To honor Nancy’s achievements and to remember her, the community is working on the Nancy Dunning Garden. In January of this year, the Alexandria Department of Parks and Recreation announced that bidding opened for construction of the Del Ray Gateway Project. The park project includes an initiative to turn an unused pool at the Nicholas A. Colasanto Park (2704 Mt. Vernon Ave.) into a spray park at one end, while the gardens will be situated at the northern tip of the triangle. The City anticipates completion of the project before the end of 2024, and a dedication of the Nancy Dunning Garden some time before that.

“Nancy was a wonderful community organizer and early catalyst for a lot of what is still happening right now,” said former Del Ray business owner Nora Partlow. “She came up with a lot of ideas and we took off with them. The memorial park is so important because you need to keep the memory of those who helped make this community.”

Nancy was the wife of Alexandria Sheriff Jim Dunning, who passed away in 2012. She was a real-estate agent with McEnearney and a columnist for the Alexandria Gazette Packet. Her regularly appearing feature, “Dunning on Del Ray,” urged Alexandrians to support the shops along Mount Vernon Avenue.

“I think her legacy will be her community involvement,” said former T.C. Williams Principal John Porter. “She worked tirelessly to make Alexandria a better place, and her loss has been deeply felt here.” Nancy’s contributions to Del Ray were enormous. She promoted many community events, including Art on the Avenue, the Halloween Parade, the Turkey Trot and First Thursday. From 2000 to 2003, she wrote the newspaper column to celebrate Del Ray — and she did it in a way that let her fun-loving personality shine through. Her last column, which appeared in the Alexandria Gazette Packet one day before the murder, is a typical example of her style and ever-present concern for the community.

One of Nancy’s lasting legacies is the “Luminaria” procession following the Tree & Menorah Lighting, held in her honor the first week of December each year. It was Nancy who spearheaded an initiative to begin the luminaria tradition for Del Ray in 2003, where candles are placed in paper sacks lining streets and sidewalks. But on December 5 of that year, one day before the first one was to be held, she was murdered by a now-convicted serial killer in her home in Del Ray. Her death impacted the hearts of many, who have long sought to honor her memory and the joy, optimism and life she brought to Del Ray.

 

Her daughter Liz perhaps said it best in the eulogy she gave at her funeral: “There wasn’t a day of my life – and there won’t be one – when I wasn’t sure that my mom loved me, that she believed in me, that she was proud of me. And with or without a secret decoder ring, a cape, or a phone booth to change in, it truly takes a superhero to, in this crazy messed up world, love people so well and so much. So perfectly. It takes all that to be what I have – the best mom in the world.”

The community wants to help Nancy’s memory live on, and show that someone who loved so many, that she is remembered, thought of often, and will always have a special place to reflect, sit quietly and be beautiful in the Nancy Dunning Garden.

 

Pullquote: “She had, what I jokingly called, her secret decoder ring. That was our short-hand – and there is always short-hand – for her ability to listen, really listen, to people when they talk.” – Liz Dunning (daughter)

 

Sources: The Alexandria Gazette (December 7, 2005); The Zebra Press (March 4, 2019)