Walter "Jack" Duncan, Jr.

Walter S. "Jack" Duncan, Jr., went to be with the Lord on Saturday, April 26, 2014. He died at Frederick, Oklahoma, at the age of 96 years and 11 days. Jack is a great great grandson of John and Elizabeth Duncan who came to America from Dennegal, Cork County, Ireland in 1775; great grandson of Samuel and Elizabeth Duncan, who came by wagon train from Ohio to Missouri in 1870; grandson of George and Flaura Ferree Duncan, who came from Missouri and homesteaded 5 miles west of Frederick, Oklahoma Territory in 1902; son of Walter S. and Cora E. Tindle Duncan, Tillman County Pioneers. He was born on April 15, 1918, at the family farm home. As a boy, he regularly arose at 5:00 a.m. to help with milking cows, feeding chickens, turkeys, mules and pigs. After a hearty breakfast he helped harness the mules and put in a full day, sunup to sundown, in the field; plowing, planting, haying or whatever was in season. He recalls making some of his first spending money at age 8 by walking and driving a mule in circles for a neighbor as he baled hay with a stationary baler that sat on the ground. He was paid $1.00 per day. Jack attended Alpian Grade School for 8 years, from where he graduated to attend high school at Weaver Consolidated #13 for four years, receiving the Lions Club Medal as a junior, and graduating in 1936. At age 16, his father furnished a team of mules and a fresno for his first off-farm job of digging slush pits in the oil fields southwest of Frederick, this was when he obtained his social security card. Having a deeply ingrained work ethic, thanks to his pioneer family and the values they taught him, Jack held many jobs during the off-seasons on the farm; but his principle vocation throughout his life was farming cotton, wheat and alfalfa. He worked with the crew that built the Farmer's CO-OP Grain Elevators in Frederick in the early 1940's and also worked in building the apartment complex on the west side of Frederick. He worked at Alpian Cotton Gin and the Frederick CO-OP Gin for many years after his own crop was harvested. He did custom farm work for friends and neighbors: combining wheat, windrowing hay, etc. Jack worked at the Agricultural Experiment Station near Tipton, when Claude Fox was superintendent there and also worked for one year with Conoco Oil Company's seismograph crew while they were in this area. Jack worked with his brother Robert (Bob) Duncan's Construction Company for several years, building many residences and business buildings in Frederick and Tillman County. Some of these include: Tesca Baptist Church, Trinity Baptist Church Parsonage, Frederick Dental Clinic and the Tipton Children's Home renovations. He served on the Tillman County A.S.C.S. committee for several years, also selling government crop insurance in several counties. He served on the Weaver School Board while his children Larry, Dena and D'Ann attended his alma mater. Jack held many teaching positions at the Bethel Baptist Church and numerous local and associational offices in Baptist Church work. He and his wife Claudine were team members on over 100 lay witness missions in three states and they are currently members of the First Baptist Church, Frederick. He was a Christian, a Gideon and a Mason, receiving his 50 year pin in 1993. On May 27, 1939, he married Claudine Woods at her farm home near Tipton, moving into a new home constructed for them by Walter and Cora Duncan on the north 80 acres of the home place. They have lived at the same location continuously since that time. His hobby is reading and he spent many hours with a library of hundreds of historical, biographical and religious books; with a keen interest in the scriptures, history of the old west, early day and modern ranches, rodeos, Indian tribes and all sports. After retiring from farming, he was employed by the Frederick Ace Hardware for 20 years. Always giving far more than he received, he is known as a generous hearted friend and neighbor; a loving husband, father, and proud grandfather. He was preceded in death by his parents; his brother: Bob Duncan; and a son-in-law: Bill Northcutt. Survivors include his wife: Claudine, of the home; a son: Larry Duncan and wife Gail, of Albuquerque, New Mexico; two daughters: Dena Northcutt, of Frederick, Oklahoma, and D'Ann Gabriele and husband Paul, of Faxon, Oklahoma; and four grandchildren: Scott Duncan and wife Jan, Nicole and Michelle Northcutt, Matthew Gabriele and wife Shianne. Orr Gray Gish Funeral Home (580) 335-2112 or (580) 335-2134