Dennis Crean named Citizen of Year by Dunwoody HOA

Dennis Crean, a longtime Dunwoody resident who died last year, was named Citizen of the Year by the Dunwoody Homeowners Association at its Jan. 31 annual meeting.

Crean, 75, died Nov. 1 at Emory University Hospital. He was active in city politics and also Dunwoody’s Rotary Club, Knights of Columbus and All Saints Catholic Church as well as the DHA.

“This is a bittersweet presentation this year,” said DHA President Robert Wittenstein. “Dennis’ contributions to the city of Dunwoody are enormous.”

Crean was a board member of the Nature Center and also of the Citizens for Dunwoody, a nonprofit group that led effort in incorporating Dunwoody. He was also a longtime member of the DHA board.

His wife, Marie, and a daughter accepted a plaque honoring Crean and received a standing ovation.

“He will be dearly missed,” Wittenstein said.

In other business:

• The Dunwoody Nature Center announced its biggest honor, the Dave Adams Award, went to UPS. In 2015, UPS donated $30,000 for the center’s Wildcat Creek Restoration and Milkweed Project to protect the monarch butterfly. UPS employees also participated in five volunteer events, giving nearly 200 hours of their time.

• Wittenstein also announced that Bloom Orthondotics, headed up by Dr. Sunya Sweeney, was the DHA’s Business of the Year.

• Pam Tallmadge, Dunwoody City Council member and co-chair of the DHA’s Fourth of the July Parade, said the 2016 theme is “Duty, Honor and Country” and parade grand marshals would be first responders — a fireman, a policeman and an EMT.

• Adrienne Duncan and Greg Crnkovich were elected as new board members.

• U.S. Rep. Tom Price also attended the meeting to discuss what has been happening on Capitol Hill. When asked why Republicans haven’t been able to support a single bill to replace the Affordable Care Act, Pride discussed his 2013 proposed Empowering Patients First Act.

Price’s plan is just one of around 150 pieces of legislation Republicans have introduced to replace the ACA, he said, but that he’s hopeful under Speaker Paul Ryan’s leadership the party will unite behind one plan.

“We’re working through to meld different proposals into one piece of legislation,” Price said. “I’m hopeful we’ll have something in six to eight weeks. I do believe we will have one piece of legislation to rally around.”

He also said he hoped the November election would bring change to Washington, D.C.

“We need an election in November to get individual in the White House to work with Congress,” he said. “Right now we are mired in a political morass in Washington”