Rev. Ethel Harris Dunaway

Pittsburgh, PA.  

Rev. Ethel Harris Dunaway passed over to be with her Lord and Savior, Thursday, June 24, 2021, at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh.

She was the youngest daughter of Okel and Zora Holley Harris, born in southern West Virginia, however, lived most of her life in this area.

Rev. Dunaway attended local schools and graduated from Ohio Valley Business College with a degree in business. She was a graduate of Roach Technology School and graduated from West Virginia Wesleyan College with a bachelor’s degree in Christian Education and religion.

She was pastor of Tallmansville, West Virginia United Methodist Church 2003-2004 before returning to Chester. She was appointed to The Newell United Methodist Church and served there as pastor from 2004-2010. While serving at Newell, she briefly filled an appointment at Nessly Chapel under a charge associated with Newell Church.

Before her work in the United Methodist Ministry, she was the owner and operator of an exercise salon in Chester for several years, along with her partner, Wilma Elliott.

During that same timeframe, she was also employed at Waterford Park Racetrack as office manager for over twelve years; she met and married her husband, Gene Dunaway while employed there.

Rev. Dunaway was preceded in death by both parents; her husband, Gene, second husband, Bob Adkins, sisters, Mary Marie McGurren Gill and Virginia Mae Martin, niece’s, Valerie Kay Cunningham, and nephew Ronald Harris Ann Hoyt She is survived by nieces and nephews, Linda Spoonmore, Mary Jane Dickey, Nancy Deyarmon, Debra Duprey, James McGurren and her great-nephew, Scott French (Jennifer).

Rev. Dunaway was a strong supporter of animal rights and was a member of The Hancock County Animal Shelter and The Humane Society.

Instead of flowers, donations can be made to Hancock County Animal Shelter or the Chester United Methodist Church.

Family and Friends will celebrate Ethel’s life at the Arner Funeral Chapel in Chester on Friday, July 2, 2021, at 1:00 p.m. Following services, she will be laid to rest with her husband Gene at the Locust Hill Cemetery. The public is invited to visit with her family at the funeral home on Thursday, July 1, from 2:00 to 4:00 and 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., and on Friday one hour before the service.

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