Lasting Memories

Cecil Eugene (Gene) Duncan
Oct. 21, 1921-July 27, 2012
Palo Alto, California

Cecil (Gene) Duncan died in peace in Palo Alto on Friday, July 27th, 2012. All of his children and grandchildren were there.

Gene and Adrienne were married in 1943 while he was still in the Army. Gene was a fighter pilot and survived the attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. He was decorated several times and received the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, American Defense Service Medal with 1 star, Asiatic-Pacific Theater Ribbon with 1 battle star, American Theater Ribbon, E.A.M.E. Theater Ribbon with 1 battle star, as well as the World War II Victory Ribbon.

Gene was born in Atascadero, Calif., then raised in Virginia where he graduated from the University of Virginia. He went on to Stanford University where he earned his Ph.D. in Mathematics.

He lived for three years in Vienna, Austria, working for the CIA. He worked at Lockheed for 20 years in pure and applied research. He retired in 1978.

He enjoyed flying, was an avid reader, an environmentalist, and a classical pianist. He volunteered at Avenidas helping seniors set up reverse mortgages.

Adrienne and Gene were fortunate to be world travelers. They traveled through Egypt because of Adrienne's love of sculpting, walked the city of Macchu Pichu in Peru, traveled the Alti Plano through Bolivia, floated the Amazon in a catamaran, toured the four quadrants of the city of Kyoto then visited northern Japan to see the farms, learned how the children are taught dance in Bali, and walked the museums of Taipei. They cruised the inland passage of Alaska, climbed Ayres Rock and stayed with the aborigines in the Northern Territories of Australia.

Our fondest memories include: staying at the giant lily pad pond on the Amazon long after the people were gone to try to identify all the different insect and bird songs; the countless hours spent at the piano learning the Lover's Concerto by ear; the dinner rule, "No laughing at the table," which made us laugh all the more; playing under the piano as grandfather played Beethoven; going out to dinner and learning about good food and good service; as well as plane rides to Baja and the Nut Tree.

He is survived by his loving wife of 69 years, Adrienne; his three daughters, Tana, Nikki and Michele; his three grandchildren, Shauna, Cheris and Robert; his five great-grandchildren, Nicole, Michael, Amber, Nathan and Emma; and his great-great-grandson, Aidan.