Evelyn Loretta Dunlop

April 28, 1923 — Nov. 9, 2012

Evelyn Laura (Loretta) Shinn Dunlop was born to Henrietta and Eugene Shinn in El Dorado on April 28, 1923, the third child in the family. Thelma Shinn Dunlop and Edson Shinn were her twin sister and brother who were two-and-a-half years old at her birth. The family lived in various locations in El Dorado until they acquired the property at 6260 North Street from Anna Dunlop in about 1937. Evelyn attended grammar school at what is now the Community Hall. She vividly recalled passing the El Dorado Hotel going to and coming from grammar school. She graduated from El Dorado High School and was employed in secretarial work at the El Dorado County Assessor’s and Tax Collector’s offices. During her High School days she and her sister, along with their friends Zona and Catherine Westerman, kept the Christian Endeavor Activity at the El Dorado Community Church alive. She enjoyed their walks around the town and surrounding area, like walks on Hwy. 49 to the Union Mine, where her father worked, and the Snyder’s Gate. She was also active in the Sunday School at the church. While still in High School she was employed by Mrs. Dwyer to correct examination papers from various schools in the county.

On Aug. 21, 1942, a Friday, Evelyn married her fiancé, 2nd Lieutenant Harry Dunlop, at the El Dorado Church. The new couple spent a short honeymoon in the Lake Tahoe area. Monday morning found them headed back to Camp Stoneman in the Bay Area. Evelyn continued her employment at the County Assessor’s Office until Harry returned from the South Pacific about a year later. Upon the return of her husband, the couple traveled to Fort Ustus, Va. She traveled with her husband to his various assignments in North Carolina, Texas, Detroit, Mich., and Dayton, Ohio. Upon his discharge from military service, they traveled around the perimeter of the United States in their return to California. Harry found employment at the L.N. Schwein Engineering Co. in Venice, Calif. Upon the death of Evelyn’s father, Eugene Shinn, the family returned to El Dorado County in a house constructed at 4284 Missouri Flat Road on a parcel granted them on the Dunlop Family ranch. After 52 years, the ranch property was sold and she moved to a new home in Diamond Springs.

Evelyn’s family consists of four children — a boy, then a girl, a second boy and a second girl — two brown eyed and two blue eyed. The oldest son, Phillip, passed away in 1972 from a brain tumor. The remaining family members express their views by saying, “She was a very nice woman, a most wonderful cook and the best house keeper we have had the privilege of knowing.” Her health started to fail about four years ago when she developed severe abdominal and back pains from internal infections and heart conditions. She was admitted to Marshall Hospital on Saturday, Nov. 3, and went to be with the Lord on Friday, Nov. 9, at about 5 a.m. She was a great lady and a loving wife, mother, parent, grandparent and great-grandparent who loved the Lord.

Funeral services were held at the El Dorado Community Church with burial next to her son at the El Dorado Cemetery. Contributions in Evelyn’s name may be made to the Memorial Fund of the El Dorado Community Church, PO Box 437, El Dorado, CA 95623. Arrangements entrusted to Chapel of the Pines Funeral Home in Placerville, Calif.