Obituary of Alice Riccadonna Dunkle

Alice Riccadonna Dunkle, of Great Falls, VA, passed away at home on Monday, January 14, 2019 at the age of 78 after a 30-year struggle with Parkinson’s Disease. She resided in Great Falls for 42 years.

Alice was born to parents Carlo and Mable Riccadonna on August 22, 1940 in Penfield, PA. She grew up as the eldest of three and attended Huston Township High School. She went on to receive a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Penn State University in 1961. In 1963, Alice married her college sweetheart, John Edwin Dunkle. She received a Master’s of Science in Botany from Penn State University in 1964, and a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from Cornell University in 1978. She taught biology at Flint Hill High School in Fairfax, VA, then Anatomy and Physiology at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. She also worked as an editor for scientific journals with Editorial Experts Inc.

Alice was passionate about her Italian heritage (and was a member of the National Italian-American Foundation), gourmet cooking, ballroom dancing, environmental conservation, and her family.

Alice is survived by her husband, John Dunkle; her daughters, Wendy Dunkle Dziurzynski (married to Richard Stanislaw Dziurzynski) and Stephanie Dunkle Shapiro (married to Allen Marc Shapiro); and her four grandchildren, Alex Nathaniel Shapiro, Andrew Julian Shapiro, Angelica Marie Dziurzynski, and Andre Laurence Dziurzynski.

The Mass of Christian Burial will take place at Holy Rosary Church in Washington, D.C. on Friday, January 18, 2019 at 1:00 pm. The family is grateful for donations to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (https://www.michaeljfox.org/get-involved/donation2.php) or The Nature Conservancy (https://www.nature.org/en-us/membership-and-giving/donate-to-our-mission/).