Rosemary June Dummer was born on August 8, 1927, in St. Paul, Minnesota, to Clarence Martin Dunn and Evelyn May McClusky Dunn. Her early life and professional career were centered in Minnesota, with teaching work also taking her to Nebraska during the years immediately after her university education.
She married Donald J. Dummer on June 18, 1949. Their children were Timothy, Michael, Daniel, and Diana.
Dummer earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Minnesota in 1949 and a Master of Arts degree there in 1972. The University of Minnesota, founded in 1851, was Minnesota's principal public university and developed a broad tradition of professional and research education during the period of Dummer's studies.
Her later graduate education coincided with the expansion of professional psychology, counseling, and marriage and family therapy in the United States. The University of Minnesota provided the institutional setting for her transition from teaching and religious education into licensed psychological practice.
Dummer began her working life as a teacher at Springfield High School in Springfield, Nebraska, from 1949 to 1950, followed by teaching at Ralston High School in Ralston, Nebraska, from 1950 to 1951. These positions placed her in secondary education during a period when American schools were expanding their professional teaching staffs after the Second World War.
From 1963 to 1969, she worked as an educator associated with the Catholic Church in St. Paul. Her later career focused on psychological and family-related clinical practice. She worked as a psychologist at Silver Lake Clinic in Minneapolis from 1972 and at Loring Family Clinic in Minneapolis from 1985.
Dummer was licensed as a psychologist in Minnesota on June 7, 1980, and also held Minnesota licensure as a marriage and family therapist. The Minnesota Board of Psychology granted her emeritus registration in 2007 after recording that she had retired from practice on November 4, 2004 and had completed an active career in good standing.
Dummer participated in professional and civic organizations connected with peace activism, marriage and family therapy, and psychology. She was associated with Women Against Military Madness in Minneapolis and with Minnesota professional organizations for marriage and family therapists and psychologists.
Her professional involvement included certification as a supervisor in marriage and family therapy, board service with the Minnesota Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, and service as its past president. These organizations supported professional standards, education, supervision, and public discussion of mental-health practice.
Participated in the organization's Minneapolis civic and peace-activism work.
Women Against Military Madness , United States
1968
Certified supervisor.
National Association of Marital and Family Therapists , United States
Served on the board of directors and later as president.
Minnesota Association of Marriage and Family Therapists , United States
Minnesota Psychologists Association , United States
Dummer married Donald J. Dummer on June 18, 1949. They had four children: Timothy, Michael, Daniel, and Diana. Her parents were Clarence Martin Dunn and Evelyn May McClusky Dunn.
