Bunch, John A. Jr. (11/13/1984)

From our 30th reunion memorial service
At Dartmouth, John Bunch studied history and played freshman football. He completed his undergraduate studies in his native state, at the University of Arkansas and was in law school there when he died of cancer, in 1984.

Appeared in the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine

JOHN ALVIN BUNCH JR. died of cancer on November 13, 1984, in Fayetteville, Ark.

At Dartmouth, John was a student of history and politics; an active participant in church activities, and a member of the freshman football team.

After his freshman year, John returned to his native Arkansas, where he completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Arkansas and married his long time girlfriend, Aleta Joy. After graduation, he followed a long family tradition and went into banking. In 1982, he began law school at the University of Arkansas. He completed two years of law school.

Classmates and friends will remember John for his quiet modesty. Although he field a national high school football rushing record and was the only athlete at Elkins High School to have his football jersey retired, he did not boast of his accomplishments.

He will also be remembered for his courage. The cancer first appeared in 1980, but John would not let it deter him. He continued to be a loving husband and devoted himself to the rigors of law school. Less than a year after he underwent major surgery for cancer, John successfully ran a 10-kilometer race.

John Bunch was a gentle, devoted, and good human being. All who knew him will miss him. We extend our deepest sympathies to his family.

Editorial by Wally Hall
Arkansas Democrat Newspaper
Little Rock, Arkansas

He bears a strong resemblance to Christopher Reeve, but even a stronger resemblance to Superman.

John Bunch doesn’t wear a cape or a giant “S” on his chest. He doesn’t carry press clippings about the night he set a national record at Elkins High School for rushing in a game, 608 yards.

He doesn’t talk as much about those Friday night feats of 1974 as he does the Saturday afternoons of 1975 when he was fourth string running back on the Dartmouth freshman team.

There is only one visible clue Bunch has not scaled enough mountains in his 26 years, and it hints that he is not a mere mortal.

His left hand is a hook.

On this Saturday afternoon Bunch is smiling and drinking iced tea. He is a little happier than usual, but that is because earlier in the day he recorded a time of 45:04 in a 10-kilometer race. He finished 69th in a field of 150. John Bunch won… again.

Bunch’s first battle began long after his Elkins jersey was retired (the only one ever retired). It was a year after he had his degree from the University of Arkansas, while continuing along the long limb of the family tree – banking.

While moving some furniture at the bank branch where he was the assistant manager, Bunch’s hand began to hurt. Two days later the pain was worse and he went to the emergency room of a local hospital.

The X-rays dictated a call to a specialist, who dictated urgency of reporting to the Mayo Clinic.

Within a week, Bunch’s hand had been removed. The rare form of cancer had not gotten into the muscle so Bunch was fitted with the hook. He adapted to it with the same ease he had the Winslow defense years before. That was in August of 1980. Chemotherapy and monthly X-rays were the bill of fare for seven months. Then, just the pictures.

Bunch suffered all the side effects. Hi lost his hair, threw up and had trouble sleeping. Finally he was taken off of it and things were back to normal.

In November 1981 a chest X-ray showed eight nodes in Bunch’s lungs. The second surgery in 15 months was scheduled – this one more serious than the first.

It was strange. There is no history of cancer on either side of the family. Bunch didn’t smoke, seldom drank and actively exercised.

How does a young man with a bright banking future, a wife he loves and no reason for having cancer react? What does he do that Sunday when they wheel him from rosy sunrises and golden sunsets into a sterile operating room?

If you are John Bunch, you pray. You thank God for all the blessings he saw fit to give you. You tell God you know it is not what you lose that counts but what you have left and what you do with it.

That’s what you do if you are Superman.

Of the eight nodes, six were malignant. One week later Bunch walked into the church and worshipped.

Talking winded Bunch. He had to take a prescription that could only be bought in Houston. The bills mounted up, but Bunch refused to be depressed. Frustration is not part of his constitution.

To win, to beat cancer was.

Bunch began to walk around the block. Soon, he was jogging and then last Saturday, less than a year after surgery for lung cancer, he ran 10 kilometers in 45:04. He was happy.

Bunch is a freshman at the UA Law School and this fall he’s going to try out for the law school’s basketball team.

He calls himself Mr. Layup and says his hook shot is lousy.

John Bunch is Superman.

In memory of John Bunch, the Class of 1979 has purchased the following book for Baker Library:

Fry, C. H., Kingfishers, Bee-Eaters, and Rollers