Dunio leaves legacy with Aging in Paradise as she retires

Letting go of responsibility isn’t something Donna Dunio likes to do.

For the past three-and-a-half years, Dunio, the executive director of Aging in Paradise, worked 70-plus hours each week building up the resource center and following her passion of making a difference in the lives of seniors.

So when Mary Ann Brady, the Aging in Paradise executive assistant, came into Dunio’s office telling her it was time to introduce a speaker, it was surprising to hear Dunio ask Brady to do it.

“It’s time,” she said to Brady.

On April 13, Dunio, 70, organized schedules, booked speakers and mingled with clients for a final time. She prefers not to use the term retirement, though. She likes to think of her next steps as a new beginning.

Since babysitting at 13 to now, Dunio let duty drive her life, but now, she wants to be off-duty. She hoped to continue the job as long as she had the energy, but she can’t put the amount of hours in that she wants and that leaves her frustrated. She can’t do anything in life “a little bit.”

“I can’t help but feel this was the best, most rewarding experience I’ve ever had professionally, and to a large extent, it was was very personal because this is an environment without the guard up,” she said.

Aging in Paradise’s mission is to enhance the quality of life for local seniors, and Dunio took that job seriously. The center offers more than 300 workshops and programs throughout the year, which is an increase over the last three years. But what Dunio is most proud of is starting Transportation Awareness Day. After last year’s presentation, MCAT started its curb-to-curb service, which Dunio said is a direct result of the first Transportation Awareness Day.

Throughout her time at Aging in Paradise, Dunio built a foundation that will remain even after she leaves, Brady said.

“She laid the groundwork,” Suzy Brenner, the communications specialist for Aging in Paradise, who officially took over at executive director on April 17, said. “I think a lot has been put in place that will enable us to keep doing what we’ve been doing and add to it without much interruption.”

Dunio said this role challenged her, and what she’ll take away from it is how she enhanced everything she learned in previous roles, from respect and teamwork to growing a program and creating unending friendships.

“I will never lose my sense of being a part of this team, this family of Aging in Paradise,” she said. “That’s what they are to me, so anything I can do to help them achieve their goals, plans and dreams.”

She isn’t crossing the idea of volunteering at Aging in Paradise off her list either, but she said it won’t be for at least another year. She wants whoever takes over to be able to own it.

“The reality is I want whoever comes in to 100% have the respect, and the ownership and the independence to be all they can be,” she said. 

“I want them to feel this is their ship. They’re going to bring a whole other set of gifts and talents.”

What Dunio is excited about is where this new beginning might take her. For all she knows, it could lead her back to her passion of making a difference in the life of seniors.

“There’s endless aha moments in life,” she said. “They never stop, and the second you stop learning, it’s the second you stop living because that’s what makes life interesting.”

Dunio is both sad and excited about her “new beginning.” To her, Aging in Paradise is at a good crossroads right now, and she hopes someone out there will help take it to the next level.

“And that’s what I hope I’ve done, is left a small legacy for local seniors,” she said. “That was my goal, and it’ll always be my goal. I’m not retiring from that.”