Always Room at the Table: Remembering Jerry Dunfey and Sean O’Kane

This second weekend in October, Global Citizens Circle lost two people who helped make its mission a lived experience. Jerry Dunfey, our founding president, and Sean O’Kane, who became our board chair in 2023, understood that meaningful dialogue begins with how we welcome one another.

Their contributions reached across different chapters of GCC’s history. Yet both brought a deeply personal commitment to the Circle: a belief that people deserve to be heard, and that bringing them together can open possibilities that might otherwise remain out of reach.

We remember them with gratitude and affection.

Jerry Dunfey: Making Room for Someone New

Jerry was the eleventh of twelve children born to Leroy and Catherine Dunfey of Lowell, Massachusetts. Growing up in a large family, surrounded by friends and relatives in Lowell’s Acre neighborhood, he knew what it meant to make room for someone else.

Global Citizens Circle’s motto, “There’s always room for another person at the table,” reflected something Jerry had experienced long before he began organizing Circles. He carried that spirit into his work as founding president, making inclusion a practice rather than an aspiration.

From his office at the Parker House Hotel, Jerry scoured local newspapers, including African American, Asian American and other ethnic publications. He looked for people doing good work in their communities and invited them to Circle dinner discussions. Many had no idea how they had come to receive an invitation. Jerry had noticed them. That was reason enough.

But the invitation was only the beginning. He also thought carefully about where people would sit. An advocate for people experiencing homelessness might find a bank CEO in the next chair. Jerry wanted people to meet someone who could help advance their work, or who might come away with a different understanding of an issue.

His commitment to respect did not mean avoiding difficult conversations. During apartheid, he initiated a letter-writing campaign urging corporate CEOs to divest from South Africa. When the head of Hewlett Packard responded with an angry letter threatening to boycott Dunfey hotels, Jerry kept going.

He could be persistent about principle and wonderfully playful with people. He was as comfortable with children as he was with heads of state and Nobel Peace Laureates. His joyful nature and sense of humor helped put people at ease.

Although Jerry had stepped away from GCC’s day-to-day operations more than fifteen years ago, he never stopped thinking about the Circle. He continued suggesting possible discussion leaders and talking about GCC to people he met. The Circle remained his pride and joy.

Sean O’Kane: Leading with Kindness

Sean’s connection with the Dunfey family began when he was a boy in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire. His active involvement with Global Citizens Circle took shape about twenty-five years ago, when he was general manager of the Center of New Hampshire hotel in downtown Manchester.

Sean hosted several Circles there, helping create a welcoming setting for the conversations at the heart of GCC’s work. At one of those gatherings, Cambodian “killing fields” survivor Arn Chorn-Pond received a Global Citizens Circle award, with Kerry Kennedy, daughter of Robert and Ethel Kennedy, in attendance.

Years later, Sean stepped forward again. He became chair of the board in 2023, helping guide GCC through a critical period. And I have him to thank for my own involvement in this important venture

He brought kindness and generosity to that responsibility, along with thoughtful, respectful leadership. He also made clear how much he enjoyed it. In retirement, Sean often told us how much fun he was having being involved with GCC.

Some of our fondest memories are of him joining Zoom meetings from the deck of the boat where he and Terry lived. Sunlight would pour onto him and his laptop screen, and he would shade himself as he took part in the conversation. It was an unmistakably Sean way of showing up: fully engaged, happy to be involved, joining us from the life he and Terry shared.

The People Behind the Circle

We will miss Jerry’s delight in bringing an unexpected guest into the conversation. We will miss Sean on our screens, finding shade on the boat deck and glad to be part of the work.

We hold Jerry’s wife, Nadine, and Sean’s wife, Terry, in our hearts, along with their families and the many people who loved them.