Thomas Dunn was a vibrant 27-year-old who had a huge passion for life and God. He loved sports, traveling and adventures, and had an ability to make people laugh. Tom dedicated a lot of his time to mentoring the youth at his church and considered himself an ambassador for the Lord. In 2003, Tom graduated with a business degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where he belonged to the AGO Christian fraternity. He loved his job working as a project manager for KDS Plumbing in San Jose and had purchased his first home just three months before he died.

In August 2008, Tom was visiting a friend in Seattle. They went hiking at Mt. Si, and Tom slipped and fell 200 feet on his descent. Rescuers could not get to him in time. Although he knew that he took risks, Tom believed that you have to live your life to the fullest. In fact, he would often say, “You’ve gotta live!” Tom died doing something he loved.

“Since the day Tom got his driver’s license, he made the decision to be an organ donor,” said his father, Ron Dunn. “Of course, he never knew this selfless act would result in two people getting the gift of sight. Our family has some comfort in knowing that two people now have sight because of receiving Tom’s corneas and hope to meet those people someday.

“Tom was an amazing son, brother, uncle and friend. His death has greatly impacted our family. We traveled together and gathered for dinner every Sunday. Tom left behind a huge legacy of friends and has left all of us striving to be better people.”