May 15, 1922- July 29, 2014
William Gordon Duncan (Bill) died July 20, 2014 at the Mennonite Care Home in Albany at the age of 92.
Bill was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the second child born to William Clarence and Daisy Duncan.
Bill joined the Canadian Army at age 19 and served with the Allied Forces during World War II in Italy and Holland, receiving four medals of honor for his service. He returned to Toronto in 1946 and the following year he married Madeline Decker, the lovely girl next door! Together they raised two daughters and a son. Bill also at this time started his career as precision machinist.
Bill heard of the virtues of Southern California and longed to relocate there, which he finally did in 1967. You could fly your plane any day of the year there and since he just completed building his first plane, he was anxious to go!
Bill actually flew that plane from Toronto to Southern California after finally receiving the first-ever granted permission from the FAA to license a Canadian homebuilt aircraft under the “Experimental” classification into U.S. Territory. He continued in his career, eventually working for Formula One Champion Dan Gurney.
Bill and his wife enjoyed 66 years of marriage and were parted less than six months ago when Madeline passed into heaven on Feb. 10, 2014.
Some highlights of Bill’s life include: racing motorcycles in Holland after the war, becoming a HAM radio operator and helping others through this hobby for many years, learning to fly and obtaining a pilot’s license, completing the building of five airplanes, building a two-manual theater organ and teaching himself to play it, riding his motorcycle with his wife for many years, traveling to Hawaii, Israel, Alaska, and many other states.
Finally and most importantly, he surrendered his life to Christ and served God from that day until the day he went to meet him in Heaven. His love and dedication to God was apparent to all he knew or met. He was quite evangelistic and loved to share his faith with anyone who would listen.
He lived in Toronto, Canada; Mission Viejo, Calif.; and the remainder of his life in Oregon – Ashland, Medford, Sweet Home and, finally, Albany. He was a member of Cornerstone Fellowship Foursquare Church in Sweet Home.
Bill is survived by a sister, Marion of Oshawa, Ontario; his children, daughter Judith and son-in-law, Bob Saye of Oshawa, Ontario; daughter Wendy and son-in-law Chik of Soldotna, Alaska and son Ross and daughter-in-law Christy of Sweet Home; eight grandchildren; and 17 great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at Cornerstone Fellowship at a future date.
To honor Bill’s life, memorial gifts may be sent to Cornerstone Fellowship, PO Box 1, Sweet Home, OR 97386 or Lydia’s House of Mennonite Village, 5353 Columbus St SE, Albany, OR 97322.
Paid Obituary