Trinity Metro
Trinity Metro, the Fort Worth-area public transit authority, said Thursday it will rename its East Fort Worth Transfer Center the Dr. Dennis Dunkins Transfer Center, after the longtime board member and public schools advocate who died in December of COVID-19 complications.
Trinity Metro will rename the center and dedicate it at 9 a.m. Tuesday July 13. The center is at 4104 E. Lancaster Ave. at South Sargent Street.
Dunkins, serving City Council District 5, was appointed to the Trinity Metro board on Feb. 6, 2013, and remained a director through September 2020. He participated on the Commuter Rail Committee from 2014-2020 and was chairman in 2017.
He was board secretary from 2017-2019, served as ACCESS Committee chair, and was active on the Scholarship Committee, TRE Advisory Committee, Rail Working Group, and Planning, Operations and Marketing Committee.
“His love for transit was contagious and he was passionate about the quality of Trinity Metro’s services, continually advocating for positive customer experiences,” Trinity Metro said after Dunkins’ death.
“He loved riding trains, particularly TRE, and truly did use public transportation in his day-to-day life. He always had a smile for everyone and was highly regarded by those who had the opportunity to meet him.”
Dunkins died Dec. 29. He was 80.
Dunkins, who worked for the Fort Worth ISD from 1980 to 2009, was remembered for his work advocating for more Black students and educators in leadership roles; contribution to the creation of magnet programs in Fort Worth ISD high schools; and organization of visits to historically Black colleges and universities for Fort Worth ISD students.
In 1986, he and 12 other Black educators founded the Texas Alliance of Black School Educators and served as the association’s president from 2008-2010.
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