DUNCAN, Floyd Ear

Floyd Earl Duncan, 83, of Baker City died Oct. 21, 2012, at his home. His memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at First Presbyterian Church, 1995 Fourth St. Floyd Earl Duncan was born to Doris Melville Duncan and Herman Duncan on Dec. 30, 1928, at San Diego. He joined his older sister, Evelyn, and a few years later his brother, Clifford, was born. Floyd was always a hard worker; he learned by example and through necessity. A well-known motto that Floyd lived by was, “If something is worth doing, it’s worth doing right!” He gave quality work and expected the same in return, family members said. In 1948, he married his high school sweetheart, Elizabeth “Betty” Aidem. He managed the La Puente Redi-Mix Plant near their Southern California home. The Duncans moved with their two daughters, Nancy and Linda, to the remote hills of northern California to work on a ranch in preparation for their dream of owning a ranch themselves. This was a very happy 18 months when Linda and Nancy were presented with their first horse, “good old Joe,” and attended a one-room, one-teacher schoolhouse, complete with eight grades and 16 students. After searching for property during this period, Floyd and Betty turned to Baker, Ore., where Floyd long remembered the Blue Mountains and the fertile Baker Valley from a high school graduation trip. They bought the “old Satterburg” place on Pocahontas Road west of Baker City in 1960, where they began ranch life in earnest. They later sold this property to purchase the nearby “Ebell” ranch, which offered more acreage and better water rights. The ranch was sold in the late 1970s, but Floyd and Betty maintained their home on a small acreage on the ranch. Always intrigued with cars and machinery, Floyd was a fine mechanic. After ranching, the Duncans bought a semi-truck. Floyd hauled products for P&E Distributing and other firms. He loved to drive and put on a lot of miles over the next several years between Southern California and his beloved Baker County. Always a big adventure, his grandsons were often invited to ride along with their grandpa. When the boys got old enough, he sometimes let them off at Disneyland, building a lifetime of memories with his grandchildren. Floyd could also famously be seen in many car shows with his unique one-owner 1950 Dodge one-ton truck that he and Betty purchased and drove home from Detroit in 1950. After its long service followed by decades of neglect, Floyd rebuilt the truck from the axles up and enjoyed car shows and tinkering with his truck for many years. He is the recipient of too many trophies and awards to count. Floyd was presented with the Legacy Man of the Year Award by the Baker County Chamber of Commerce in 2004. He lived naturally by the Golden Rule and was known by all as a kind and giving man who went out of his way to make life a bit easier for others, especially as friends aged and needed extra help, family members said. He famously plowed the snowy roads of his neighbors, without any expectation of payment, during the winters for many, many years. He said “That’s just what good neighbors do.” Through much hard work, Floyd and Betty achieved their goal of providing their daughters with storybook childhoods. A man of few words, Floyd’s friends and family will miss his easy smile and good-natured manner. He always said he was a lucky man — he even had a plaque attached on the front grill of his semi-truck that displayed the words: “Lucky Dunk.” “He lived a good life; he knew how to work hard and played with the same enthusiasm; he enjoyed the bounty of profession and friendships that he originally sought when making Baker County his home,” family members said. Survivors include his wife, Betty (known to all the grandchildren as “Cutie Pie, a moniker given her by Floyd) his partner in life for 64 years; his daughters, Nancy Duncan Berdahl (Alfred Berdahl) and Linda Wooters (Michael Wooters); grandsons, Travis, Trenton (Carrie), and Trevor (Alynn) Jones and Brandon and Tyson Wooters; eight great-grandchildren: Athena Wooters, Keath, Kaden, Elliyah and Kyrick Jones and Alexander, Elizabeth “Beth” and Amelia Jones. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions to a charity of one’s choice through Gray’s West & Co. Pioneer Chapel, 1500 Dewey Ave., Baker City, OR 97814. Baker City Herald 24 Oct 2012