John "Jack" Collins Dunlap, MD

“He died.” Dr Jack wanted to keep it simple, but in reality, John Collins Dunlap, MD, was hardly a simple man. He left us on a Sunday afternoon, December 8, 2019, while in the loving embrace of his family. Son of MC and Inez, brother of Libby and Buddy, husband of Nancy Page, father of Kelly and John Jr., grandfather of Cameron and Duncan, uncle of Trish, Kathy, Hunter, Page, and Ed, he was all that and much more. Physician, restaurateur, oenophile, chef, raconteur, veteran, adventurer, traveler, Dr Jack was a man for all seasons, a man of diverse interests, a man of high vision and expectations. He was widely known for his patronage of the arts and artists; his musical taste was eclectic and included jazz, rock, opera, and country, this last due largely to the influence of a young singer/songwriter who was Dr Jack’s helicopter pilot while stationed in Germany--Kris Kristofferson. Dr Jack even became a fan of the Grateful Dead at the age of 80. As a young psychiatrist, Dr Jack sojourned in San Francisco where he treated kids with drug problems in the Haight-Ashbury district. This determined his career as a psychiatrist for children and troubled youth. Dr Jack was a dapper soul; whether outfitted in ceremonial dress, his kilt, or a tuxedo, he cut a figure. And he loved it. Dr Jack opened Lautrec, a Provincial-French bistro, in 1982 in what is now the Vista entertainment district of Columbia, SC, when no one considered its potential. He was a fierce competitor, often winning chili and barbecue cook-offs. Barbecue was his specialty for his church’s fundraisers; he was a faithful and dedicated member of St. Michael’s and All Angels, and he delighted congregants with his excellent ‘cue as his way of giving back. He had encyclopedic knowledge of all things St Louis Cardinals. He read voraciously, even after macular degeneration slowed him. He relished good food, good wine, and good company. Dr Jack was a Scotsman to his core, with a pinch of Irish to mellow him and render him a generous benefactor. Shakespeare, for whom he developed an appreciation in his later years, would have said of Dr Jack,”[we] shall not see his like again.” Dr Jack was born in Rock Hill, SC, on January 8, 1933. He graduated Wofford College and the Medical University of South Carolina, and with his beloved Nancy, he began his adventures and journeys that took him into military service, medical residencies, and finally to private practice in Columbia, SC. His parents, Marion Crawford and Inez Collins Dunlap, predeceased him, as did his sister, Elizabeth Dunlap Patrick. His surviving family—and co-conspirators—include his loving wife Nancy Page Dunlap, his son and daughter, Kelly Dunlap Lovejoy (Ben) and John C Dunlap, Jr., his brother Marion Crawford Dunlap, III (Nancy C), and his adored grandsons Cameron and Duncan Lovejoy, nieces and nephews Patricia Patrick McGuinn (Dennis), Kathleen Patrick Wilson (Larry), Hunter Lee Griffin (Cathy), Page Griffin Smith, and Edward V Griffin, III (Katie). Services will be Saturday, December 14, 2019, at 11:30 AM at Shives Funeral Home, 7600 Trenholm Road Extension, Columbia, SC 29223. A reception will follow the service. The family requests no flowers; instead, please consider making a donation to a cause that was close to Jack’s heart, St. Michael and All Angels’ Episcopal Church, 6408 Bridgewood Road, Columbia, SC 29206 or a charity closest to your heart. A kind man, he would have us love one another. And in a moment of quiet reflection, consider raising a glass of a fine cabernet in his memory.

Tributes

John "Jack" Collins Dunlap, MD

January 8, 1933 - December 8, 2019