Paul A. Dunn, 40, executive with Hub flower distributor

PAUL A. DUNN

From a phone call, a simple request for roses, Paul A. Dunn could turn what would have been a special evening into something extraordinary.

Once, while Mr. Dunn was working as director of special services at Winston Flowers in Boston, a man called seeking a floral arrangement to augment the marriage proposal he planned to deliver that night.

"Paul transformed that into a rooftop dinner on top of a condominium building," said Ted Winston, a co-owner of the company. "He had a friend with a private catering company cater the dinner with candlelight. He created all that out of a phone call with someone he had never spoken with before. Paul just had a magic way."

Mr. Dunn, who with no formal training created a career that was as distinctive as the occasions he crafted for his clients, died Monday in Brigham and Women's Hospital. Although tests are pending to determine what happened, Mr. Dunn's family said he collapsed after what appeared to have been a brain hemorrhage. He was 40 and had lived in the South End.

"He really did have a family here - not just with his co-workers, but with his clients," said Mr. Dunn's mother, Kathy, of Derby, Vt., and Foxborough. "He really loved the job that he did, and he loved to be able to make something happen. He just seemed to have that vision."

The middle of three children, Mr. Dunn grew up in Dedham and graduated from Foxborough High School. He worked for a while at a bank and a grocery store before moving to Boston. Through a temp agency, he landed a job for the holiday season at Winston Flowers, where he was hired to take orders over the phone.

"Literally, after a half-hour tutorial, it sounded like he had been here for years," Winston said. "At the end of the week, I said, 'I need you to stay here.' He just made people feel comfortable."

With a natural charm and wit, Mr. Dunn was as popular with colleagues as he was with customers, in whose lives he became more than just an adviser on all things floral.

"He managed the relationships with all our top accounts, mainly residential accounts," Winston said. "And it was much more than flowers. He acted as these clients' personal shoppers. If it was one of his client's birthday, for example, he would be in touch with other clients to make sure every gift was unique and reflected each client's personal taste. He's the only person I've ever come across in my life who has that talent. He transformed our business to more than selling flowers, to much more of a relationship."

As a child, Mr. Dunn had been quiet, his mother said, "but he always seemed to have an artistic type of skill or personality."

And because he had never studied to fill the job he did so well, she said, "I would ask him, 'How do you come up with your ideas?' He said, 'I don't know, I just do.' He had the confidence in himself and that really helped. He could just put things together and it would look so nice."

Sometimes people responded lavishly to Mr. Dunn's efforts. Winston said that by way of saying thanks, one client flew Mr. Dunn first class to Hawaii for a vacation and put him up for a week at the Four Seasons Resort.

Mr. Dunn lived in Jamaica Plain for many years and briefly lived in Los Angeles. He moved out late in 2003, his mother said, then returned to Winston Flowers in advance of the Democratic National Convention in 2004.

This weekend, those who knew Mr. Dunn will tell stories of about his work and his love of life and laughter. One tale may recount the time a man called Winston Flowers to order a dozen roses for his wife on Valentine's Day. Mr. Dunn suggested something a little more elaborate. "He arranged for a baby-sitter to show up so they could go out to dinner," Winston said. "He made dinner reservations at a restaurant where you can't get reservations. And when the couple arrived, there were rose petals on the table. Paul just created a whole evening of it."

In addition to his mother, Mr. Dunn leaves his father, Paul J. of Derby, Vt., and Foxborough; two sisters, Judith McHugh of Foxborough and Barbara Dunn Martinek of Plainfield, Vt.

A funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. today in St. Cecilia Church in Boston. Friends and family will gather to celebrate Mr. Dunn's life at 3 p.m. tomorrow in the Wharf Room of the Boston Harbor Hotel.