Rules for admission were fairly simple. Once asked by a boy how he could belong, Dunne said, “You have got to take a bath, son.” Another of father’s rules: “Don’t talk at night after you say your prayers.”

Dunne made them share the chores, go to school and chapel and, when they became teenagers, get jobs. If they could, they paid part of their board.

In 1931, Dunne opened another home next door for about 40 black youths. In the cultural tradition of the times, white and black boys ate and slept separately, even during the Thanksgiving feasts provided for every year, first by Mrs. August A. Busch Sr. and later by a mystery donor.

More than 6,500 boys had found shelter there when Dunne died in 1939 at age 68. Thousands of mourners passed by his coffin at the home or attended the funeral at the St. Louis Cathedral. He was buried in Calvary Cemetery.

Obituary articles noted that some of the boys had entered religious orders and five had been killed in World War I. In 1947, a movie starring Pat O’Brien was made of Dunne’s story entitled, “Fighting Father Dunne.”

In 1970, the Newsboys Home was moved to the first of two new locations and later recast to serve neglected or abused boys. Its programs became part of Good Shepherd Children and Family Services in 2006.

The home on Washington Boulevard became part of the Harbor Light shelter of the Salvation Army, which is remodeling it into apartments.

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