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Note: Lafayette Monroe Gunn Jr.,
of Highland Springs, died Friday, April 6. 1984. He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Mary C. Gunn; and daughter, Mrs. Cheryl G. Korman of Charleston, W.Va.; his mother, Mrs. Mary C. Gunn of Richmond; two grandsons, Eric and Benjamin Korman, both of Charleston, W.Va.; two stepsons, Clifton LaRay Bates of Highland Springs and Raymond G. Bates of Richmond; three sisters, Mrs. Myrtle G. Ferguson, Mrs. Audrey G. Garton and Mrs. Mildred G. Boyer, all of Richmond. Remains rest at the Laburnum Chapel, Woody Funeral Home, 2110 E. Laburnum Ave. Graveside services 11 a.m. Monday in Riverview. Richmond Times Dispatch (VA) Sat. 4-7-1984
Lafayette Monroe Gunn, Jr. was the only surviving son of Lafayette Monroe Gunn and Mary Carter Lewis. He was born January 27, 1923 and raised in Richmond, Virginia. He graduated from John Marshall High School on Marshall Street in Richmond, Virginia in 1941.
After high school, he joined the United States Army and served his nation during World War II, as an aircraft mechanic, in the war in the Pacific, under General McArthur. After the war, he returned to Richmond and to Virginia, the young wife he left behind.
Private First Class Lafayette Monroe GUNN, Jr. born Jan. 27, 1923 and
died in McQuires Veterans Hospital in Richmond, Virginia.
PFC GUNN entered the service on February 8, 1943 at Camp Lee, Virginia.
He served state side for 6 months 3 days in basic training at AAF Chanu
Field, Illinois in aircraft and special purpose vehicle maintenance.
After basic training he was assigned to the Headquarters Detachment 345
Bomb Squadron for service to his country in the War in the Pacific. He
served his nation in foreign service for 2 years 5 months and 4 days, a
defended his country in the following battles and campaigns: New Guinea,
Luzon, and the liberation of the Philippines and invasion of Manila. He
received the Asiatic Pacific Theater ribbon with 2 bronze service stars:
Philippine Liberation Ribbon with a Bronze service star, good conduct
metal AR 6008-68, and Victory Metal. He was discharged 14 January 1946
from Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
They moved into a house on North 37th Street that his father had built for them. Monroe's two married sisters, Audrey Gunn Garton and Myrtle Gunn Fergusson and their families, and his younger sister, Mildred, who lived with his parents Lafayette and May, all lived in the same block.
Mon worked for his father who died in 1954, then managed and later owned L. M. Gunn Motor Company, located on Nine Mile Road in Richmond, Va. In the 1960's, the Church Hill section of Richmond suffered from the effects of desegregation. More and more white families were moving out of Church Hill and into the suburbs. L. M. Gunn Motor Company became less and less the viable business it once had been.
As the automobile business failed, Monroe's life long problems with alcohol increased. Coupled with his wife's drinking problems, the marriage began to fail.
Monroe was raised a Methodist and attended Fairmount Methodist Church, all his life. His parents Lafayette and Mary Lewis Gunn were likely charter members of Fairmount. Monroe served as deacon, and Virginia served as the Secretary of the Sunday School. He was 5'9" tall, with brown hair, and blue eyes. He weighed about 165 pounds.
In 1974, Monroe married Mary Catherine Atkinson Bates, the wife of a deceased friend, Percy Bates. Mary Catherine Bates was a Catholic and while he seldom attended church with her, they were married in Saint John's Catholic church in Highland Springs, Virginia.
Monroe was grandfather to Eric Steven Korman, and Benjamin Neil Korman, the sons of his only surviving child, Cheryl Gayle Gunn, by her first marriage to Daniel J. Korman, Jr.
Monroe died in April 6, 1984 at the age of 61 in McGuire Veterans Hospital in Richmond, Virginia. He had been hospitalized since January 1984, four months before his death. He is buried in Riverview Cemetery where his brother Roy, father, and mother, and son Craig are buried.
Military Service
Private First Class Lafayette Monroe GUNN, Jr. born Jan. 27, 1923 and
died in McQuires Veterans Hospital in Richmond, Virginia.
PFC GUNN entered the service on February 8, 1943 at Camp Lee, Virginia.
He served state side for 6 months 3 days in basic training at AAF Chanu
Field, Illinois in aircraft and special purpose vehicle maintenance.
After basic training he was assigned to the Headquarters Detachment 345
Bomb Squadron for service to his country in the War in the Pacific. He
served his nation in foreign service for 2 years 5 months and 4 days, a
defended his country in the following battles and campaigns: New Guinea,
Luzon, and the liberation of the Philippines and invasion of Manila. He
received the Asiatic Pacific Theater ribbon with 2 bronze service stars:
Philippine Liberation Ribbon with a Bronze service star, good conduct
metal AR 6008-68, and Victory Metal. He was discharged 14 January 1946
from Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Lafayette M Gunn Jr
Birth Year: 1923
Race: White, citizen
Nativity State or Country: Virginia
State: Virginia
County or City: Norfolk
Enlistment Date: 8 Feb 1943
Enlistment State: Virginia
Enlistment City: Richmond
Branch: Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA
Branch Code: Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA
Grade: Private
Grade Code: Private
Term of Enlistment: Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law
Component: Selectees (Enlisted Men)
Source: Civil Life
Education: 4 years of high school
Marital Status: Married
Height: 66
Weight: 128
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