WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — On Sunday, the Dunn family lost a father and a husband to COVID-19.
And with the death of Justin Dunn, Warner Robins also lost a former officer, school resource officer and 911 dispatcher.
Dunn's oldest son, Josh, says there aren't enough words to describe the kind of man his father was.
"He's the best father I could really ask for," said the 19-year-old. "Never missed a sports game. He always took us to practice, watched us practice, watched us play every single game."
Two weeks ago, Justin tested positive for COVID-19 and was admitted to Navicent Health.
"He was on oxygen pretty much the entire time because, you know, COVID just gets into your respiratory system and just destroys it," said Josh.
He says just last week, they thought things were looking up.
"We got to talk to him a bit and he really did seem like he was getting better," recalled Josh.
Then on Sunday, the unimaginable happened.
"It just kind of caught us by surprise. The day before he passed, he just took a turn for the worse, suddenly," he says.
Josh, who has plans to join the Air Force, says he wants to be just like his father.
"He always put other people before himself and that's what I strive to be," he said.
For now, they are still trying to process his death.
"I think God was just ready for him to come home and we're just trying to accept that," he says.
Something else tough to accept was that the family was unable to be with Justin while he was in the hospital.
Josh has this message for other families going through the same thing.
"I know firsthand how much you miss them when they are in the hospital. Just pray, man. That's all you can really do," he said.
Before his back problems got the best of him, Dunn worked at the Warner Robins Police Department as a patrol officer and a school resource officer at Northside High School.
From there, he was 911 dispatcher for the Houston County Sheriff's Office.
Warner Robins Police shared the announcement on the department's Facebook page, which said in part: "We will miss him very much. May God bless him and his family through this sad time."
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