Charlene Graves Dunlop

Charlene Graves Dunlop, 81, passed away in hospice care at home on July 27, 2024. She was born on Michigan's upper peninsula in Menominee on December 3, 1942. 

She started school in a one-room schoolhouse and later graduated from Stephenson High School. At Stephenson, she found her best friend of sixty years, Joanne DuFour. She attended Michigan State University, graduating with a degree in Medical Technology in 1964. During an internship in California, she was encouraged to consider medical school, and she subsequently attended the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, graduating in 1971. She completed her pediatric residency at Montefiore Hospital in New York City in 1974. During her training, she met and married her husband, Stephen Dunlop. She continued to practice medicine under her maiden name as Dr. Charlene Graves. 

After completing training, the family, including daughter Katherine, moved to Indianapolis in 1978. Over the next five years, son, Jonathan, joined the family while Charlene held several positions as a clinician and later an administrator in the Marion County Health Department. In 1983, she was recruited to become the director of the pediatric residency program at Methodist Hospital, which became her dream job over the next seventeen years. At Methodist, she supervised residency training for more than 100 residents and assisted in establishing new programs for combined residencies in internal medicine and pediatrics and emergency medicine and pediatrics. She also served as the medical director for a school health program sponsored by Methodist. Her work was recognized by an appointment to the national residency review committee for pediatric residency programs. She was active within the Indiana chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, including serving as president for five years. In 2000, she left Methodist to work for the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) as medical director for a number of programs involving children's public health, such as immunizations, injury prevention, and lead poisoning abatement. She was also medical director for an ISDH program to create coordinated trauma care around the state. 

Outside of her work, Charlene was dedicated to family life, especially coordinating family get-togethers with her seven siblings, in Michigan in the summer and Florida in the winter. She enjoyed travel, baking, sewing, painting, and attending the many activities and accomplishments of her children and grandchildren.

Charlene was preceded in death by her parents, Charles and Selma (Kruhmin) Graves, and her daughter, Elizabeth Anne. 

She is survived by her husband of fifty years, Stephen Dunlop; children, Katherine (Sahotra) and Jonathan (Katherine); four granddaughters, Genevieve, Kate, Kajri, and Malini; and siblings, Marilyn, Ronald, Vivian, Dianne, Karen, Alan, and Brian. 

The family would like to say how much they appreciate the outpouring of support from former residents and colleagues, especially Carolyn Ridgway, Heliene Houdek, and Don Trainor.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in her memory to UNICEF, March of Dimes, or other organizations supportive of children's health and well-being. 

A Celebration of Life will be held at 4 p.m. on October 13, at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Indianapolis, 615 W, 43rd St, with reception to follow.