The Chamber of Commerce, under Bob Beech and William Carey College President Dr. Ralph Noonkester, led a community effort to rebuild the Dahmer home. Local and state businesses such as the Masonite Corporation, Alexander Materials, and Frierson Building Materials donated materials, local unions donated their services, and students from the University of Southern Mississippi volunteered unskilled labor. Bob Beech's second priority was to provide college funds for Dahmer's school-aged children. Four of Dahmer's sons were in the United States military and had left their posts to help bury their father and reconstruct their family home.