HADLEY — As a pharmacist dispensing medication for nearly 50 years, James Dunn Jr. has followed a mantra of being helpful, available and useful, while focusing on serving those in need.
“People coming in to see you are usually sick and want to be taken care of,” says Dunn, who has been the pharmacist at the Stop & Shop store’s pharmacy in Hadley since 2003. “You have to develop kindness and patience.”
On Thursday, Dunn, 73, spent his last day behind the counter, bringing an end to a career that began in 1971, following his graduation from what was then known as the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy in Boston, by working alongside his father, James Sr., at the long-running Dunn’s Pharmacy on Maple Street in Holyoke.
Dunn, who lives in Holyoke, spoke of the significant pressure that can come with his occupation. A pharmacist has to get everything right in terms of the prescriptions, he said, while working 12-hour shifts, not getting lunch breaks and standing all day. If you make a mistake, Dunn said, you have to own up to it.
But he said he finds it rewarding to be able to help so many people meet their medical needs.
“Today’s pharmacy is not just about counting pills — it’s about outcomes,” said Dunn, who has seen the pharmacy business evolve over the years.
He decided to enroll in pharmacy school after an appeal from his father, whom he described as dedicating his life to both his family and the pharmaceutical profession. A product of the Great Depression, his father put himself through pharmacy school and then ran a dispensary for providing medicine to crews on board ships passing through the Panama Canal.
When it was time to go to college, his father told him that becoming a pharmacist could be a rewarding career. “I listened to him that day, and, except for meeting my wife, it’s one of the best things I ever did,” Dunn said.
After again working at the family pharmacy for a few years, Dunn struck out on his own. With the help of his parents, James and Eileen — who was both a stay-at-home mother and later helped run the pharmacy — he purchased Martin’s Pharmacy on Hampden Street in 1977, at the time one of 41 pharmacies in Holyoke.
“There was nothing better than running your own business,” Dunn said.
His wife, Judith Borlen Dunn, worked with him at the site that was known for its stained glass windows and that today is Elizur’s, a neighborhood bar. In addition to pharmaceuticals, including a delivery-service option, Martin’s also had a liquor license to sell beer, wine and spirits, along with a lending library and a branch of the U.S. Post Office.
In 1984, Dunn’s Pharmacy was combined into Martin’s, and Dunn’s father, in his retirement, came to work for him. Four years later, CVS approached Dunn about buying the business, which he sold as it was becoming increasingly difficult to make it as a small entrepreneur in the pharmaceutical field.
That led to his work for CVS beginning in 1989 and his move to Hampshire County, where on his second day on the job he was assigned to be the pharmacist at the store on University Drive in Amherst, filling 700 prescriptions a day.
In 2003, Dunn took a position at the Stop & Shop just a short distance away on Russell Street, after the supermarket’s district manager called and offered him a better salary, four weeks’ vacation, a pension and a 401(k) account.
“That was a good decision. I’ve loved what I do,” Dunn said.
He has continued to strive to broaden his knowledge of his field, noting that just a few years ago he became an immunization specialist and a specialist for diabetic care. There is also time on the weekends to do casework and go over patients’ profiles to make sure they are getting the best care.
And previously, when he wasn’t at the pharmacy, Dunn could be found at Baystate Mary Lane Hospital in Ware every other weekend, helping as a pharmacist with patients undergoing chemotherapy or who needed to have intravenous IVs.
Over the years, Dunn has seen pharmacies evolve, from a time when there were only a handful of antibiotics and blood pressure medications available to today, when a wide range of medications can be prescribed by doctors to make people better. He said what he also sees are people taking much better care of themselves, not only eating by healthier but by following plans set out by their doctors.
Shane Mitus, a pharmacist for 24 years who is at the Stop & Shop pharmacy when Dunn is not, said he appreciates Dunn’s abilities.
“Jimmy is one in a million,” Mitus said, noting that Dunn helped to teach him about pharmacy practices when he was just starting out. “He’s the utmost gentleman and old school, but still very hip.”
This hipness, Mitus said, is evident through the rapport he has with his colleagues.
One of those is pharmacy technician Cathy Belanger, who said Dunn has been like a second father to her. Belanger said she respects his accuracy in verifying pill counts and making sure things run smoothly.
“Jim is so down to earth and so understanding. He’s wonderful,” Belanger said. “We’re going to miss him.”
Dunn, too, said he will miss the people he works with and the bonds he has created with his colleagues, who are like family, and the customers, who he treats the same way.
His own family includes his wife of 52 years, six children and 10 grandchildren.
One of his children, Kate, said even with her father’s work ethic and care for patients, he had plenty of time for them.
“He always went out of his way from day one,” she said.
With retirement coming during the COVID-19 pandemic, Dunn said he hopes one positive that might come out of the suffering and death caused by the novel coronavirus is to have more drugs made domestically, rather than relying on foreign production.
He jokes that he feels like he’s Elton John on a farewell tour due to how many people have expressed gratitude for his service.
He doesn’t have specific plans for retirement, though prides himself on being so close to his family.
“I’m apprehensive because we’re in the midst of a pandemic,” Dunn said. “But I’m also excited about what God has in store for me.”
