Biography

   Roger John Dunigan was born on January 27, 1940 to Thomas Gerald Dunigan and Navene Marguerite (Hogan) Dunigan, in Ionia, MI. Roger, called Roddy or Rod by his family, was the second of five children. He has three sisters; Patricia (Robert) Purtill of Sun City, AZ, Konstance (Daniel, deceased) O’Keeffe of Charlotte, NC, Christine (Ray) Pool of Ocala, FL and a brother Terrance (Mary) Dunigan of Charlotte, NC.

Roger grew up in Ionia, MI, attending SS Peter & Paul Academy through the tenth grade. In his junior year of High School he transferred to St. Joseph’s Seminary in Grand Rapids, MI. He completed his high school and first two years of college at St. Joseph’s Seminary. He received an AB degree in philosophy from the Athenaeum of Ohio, Mt St Mary’s Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1961. He completed his theological and ecclesiastical studies at St John’s Provincial Seminary in Plymouth, MI, receiving an STB degree in theology from Catholic University, Washington, DC, in 1965. In 1968, he received a MA degree in counseling from the University of Detroit. Roger is a Licensed Social Worker and a Licensed Professional Counselor.

In June of 1965, Roger was ordained a Roman Catholic priest for the diocese of Grand Rapids. He was an assistant pastor at St Mary’s Parish in Muskegon, from 1965-1967. He served as campus pastor at St Mary’s University Parish, on the campus of Central MI University, in Mt Pleasant, MI, from 1967 to 1973.

In 1974, he was hired as the first Executive Director of the newly formed Grand Traverse County Community Mental Health Board, in Traverse City. That first year the CMH Board had a budget of $100,000. The Community Mental Health Board is created by the County to ensure the provision of a broad range of services to developmentally disabled persons and adults and children with mental illness or emotional disturbance. In 1980, Leelanau County joined the CMH Board and the organization became the Grand Traverse/Leelanau Community Mental Health Board.

In 1997, the Community Mental Health Board was created by the two counties as a separate local governmental Authority, called the Great Lakes Community Mental Health Authority. Roger was the Chief Executive Officer of this successor organization, until his retirement in October of 2003. He served as the CMH Chief Executive Officer for 30 years. At the time of his retirement, the CMH organization had an operating budget of 22 million dollars, one of the highest per capita funded CMH Boards in the state. Since 2005, Roger has provided research, consultation and legal assistant services to a number of different law firms, through Dunigan Consulting Services. In his retirement, Roger has been active in a variety of volunteer activities.

Roger has greatly enjoyed living in Leelanau County for the past 36 years. For fun and relaxation, he enjoys golf, racquetball, skiing, biking and riding his motorcycle. Roger is blessed by having a loving family and a large number of really good and supportive friends.

Roger Dunigan’s Resumé