Dorothy "Betty" Dunlap is the widow of Ed Dunlap.
Who is Ed Dunlap?
Ray Franz first met [Ed Dunlap] in 1964 when attending a ten-month course at Gilead School. He was then the Registrar of the School and one of its four instructors...Originally from Oklahoma, of somewhat rough-hewn appearance, Ed was of ordinary education but had the ability to take very difficult, complex subjects and put them in understandable language, whether it was the functions of the Mosaic Law or a scientific study of genetics. However, more important to Ray Franz was his unpretentiousness. Aside from a penchant for loud ties, he was a basically low key, low profile person, in appearance, demeanor [sic] and speech...He had always been thoroughly devoted to the organization; his full-time service record equalled mine in length [40 years].
Ed Dunlap, former Gilead registrar at Bethel, who was disfellowshipped in 1979 for "apostasy" during the great Witch hunt, died of natural causes on Sept. 17, 1999 in his home.
The Service Department was busy rounding up any evidence they could in order to disfellowship Raymond Franz, as they felt he and Edward Dunlap were conspiring against the organization. Lee Waters of the Service Department even made the statement that "They (the `apostates') had been building a platform (upon which to attack) for many years." While Lyman Swingle stood up for Ray Franz and prevented him from being disfellowshipped at that time (Lyman knew all the facts about 1914), Franz was spied upon and later disfellowshipped for eating a meal with his boss, a former Witness (see Time Magazine of Feb. 22, 1982, p. 66). Edward Dunlap was disfellowshipped after members of the Governing Body pleaded with him to ignore the facts and maintain their present understanding for the sake of unity. Dozens more left the Bethel family or were disfellowshipped in the months to come, as they apparently "knew too much." While members of the Bethel family heard regular denouncements of the "apostates," few knew of the events that had occurred.
Ed was a courageous man who stood up to the Witch Hunt tactics at Bethel in 1979 and declared that he would not be a part of the tactics used on the flock, and after a long session with the other members of the Governing Body, where some were said to be in tears over his conscientious stand, he was disfellowshipped and it was announced to the Bethel family the next morning. Many cried over the loss of this wonderful Christian man. May his reward go with him.
Tom Cabeen, former Bethel overseer, writes:
"He was cleaning out dresser drawers and noticed a numbness in his left arm. He thought it was just from turning wrong or something. He went into the bathroom shortly thereafter and when he didn't come out, Betty went looking for him. He had died quickly and, evidently, painlessly. He was a good Christian and very courageous. I will miss him very much. We had a lot of good Bible discussions."
Ed Dunlap audio testimony can be found here:
http://jwinfoline.com/Page/audio.htm
