By:JOSEPH KELLARD
Prior to her many years at OHS, Dunwoody was a secretary for principals at both School 5 and the junior high school, then at Merle Avenue. Upon arriving at the high school in 1955, she became a secretary for the principal and then the guidance department. In her final 25 years she was secretary and coordinator of student projects, and worked in that capacity until she stepped down in May 2003.
During her nearly five decades in the Oceanside school district, Dunwoody earned a reputation for being passionate about and devoted to her work and the students she assisted. "Betty was involved in any event that took place, whether it was chaperoning or being with the kids, bringing food, ordering anything they needed," said Jess Resnick, principal of OHS from 1992 to 2001. "She was the ultimate race horse, not only for hard things like products, but people as well. If there was an issue or problem or a question, Betty knew it all."
As secretary of student projects, Dunwoody coordinated all the after-school organizations and events, such as the Key Club, Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA), Sports Night and Homecoming. "Betty worked tirelessly seven days a week to make sure that everything went right for the kids at the high school," Superintendent Dr. Herb Brown said. "She worked on Saturdays and Sundays for Model Congress so the kids got the right meals from different local restaurants. She worked on DECA trips after hours. She was like a grandmother to many of the high school kids, and she helped a lot of kids make it through high school just by being there for them and being supportive of them."
Her son, Robert Dunwoody, cited as one of her greatest accomplishments her organizing and running Model Congress, a debate club at OHS that each year hosts some 2,500 students from throughout the tri-state area for a weekend. "She was very devoted and dedicated to anything she got involved in," Robert said. "And she loved, loved kids."
Born and raised in New Rochelle, Betty Ward married Col. William Dunwoody, executive commander of the Mitchel Field Air Force Base in Uniondale and a detective in the New York City Police Department, in 1943. The couple lived in the Bronx until 1954, when they built a home in Rockville Centre. That's where they raised Robert, their only child.
Dunwoody was a member of various organizations, including the Republican Club of Rockville Centre, of which she was the first female president, the Oceanside Kiwanettes, the American Business Women's Association, and the 1 in 9 Breast Cancer Action Coalition.
"The thing that impressed me most about my mother was her ability to do anything she wanted to do," Robert recalled. "She could get blood from a stone. When she set her mind to a task, there wasn't anything in the world that would stop her from getting what she wanted."
In her spare time Dunwoody enjoyed golf, playing at the Rockville Centre Links, a country club where she was among the first female members. She traveled two or three times each year, to locations as diverse as Alaska and the Caribbean.
Edyth DeBaun, her longtime friend, described Dunwoody as "very outgoing, very thoughtful and very fond of children and people in general. And they gravitated toward her."
Echoing Robert Dunwoody, DeBaun said that whether it was Dunwoody's work, pastimes or general activities, she always got deeply involved and dedicated to anything she did. "Her work was her passion," DeBaun said, "but she really was a dynamic person who was full of energy and wisdom and loved to go to parties and dance. She really loved life and people."
