H. Richard Duden

Henry Richard "Dick" Duden, Jr., 88, died peacefully at home in Severna Park March 31 following a brief bout with cancer. Born in Pottstown, Pennsylvania and raised in Englewood, New Jersey, Dick graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts in 1943. While at Andover, he lettered in football, basketball and baseball and was also awarded the Aurelian Honor Society Prize for character, scholarship and leadership. Dick was inducted into the Andover Athletic Hall of Honor in 2008. In 1943, Dick entered the United States Naval Academy on a three-year accelerated war track, graduating in 1946 as a member of the class of 1947, with honors as a Battalion Commander. While at the Academy, Dick received nine varsity letters for football, basketball and baseball. In 1945, he was elected captain of the football team. At the end of the season he was voted a consensus All-American at offensive end and won the Knute Rockne award from the Touchdown Club of Washington, D.C., given to the nation's top lineman. At graduation, he was awarded the USNA Sword, given to the Academy's top athlete. In 1972, Dick was chosen by a national panel of sports writers as a member of the All-Time Army-Navy Football Team. In 1996 he was named to the Anne Arundel County Sports Hall of Fame and in 2001 he was inducted into the National Football Foundation College Hall of Fame. Following graduation from USNA, Dick served in the fleet on board the USS Sicily and the USS F.D. Roosevelt. He took reserve status in 1949 and played his only professional football season with the New York Giants. At the outbreak of the Korean Conflict he was recalled and served as a gunnery officer aboard the USS Chickasaw. He later returned to the Naval Academy as an assistant varsity football coach until 1959. In 1960, Dick became the head plebe football coach, a position he held until his retirement in 1973. Dick never had a losing season as the plebe coach. From 1973 1976 he coached varsity football at Wroxeter Academy, again never having a losing season. In his civilian life, Dick worked as an insurance agent for New York Life for many years. He was also active in his community, serving several civic organizations. Dick was a past-president of the Annapolis Rotary Club, from which he received the Paul Harris Award; a founder and past-president of the Touchdown Club of Annapolis; a life member of the USNA Alumni Association, where he served a three-year term as a Trustee-at-Large; a life member of the Annapolis Yacht Club; and a member of American Legion Post 175. Dick was formerly married to Jean Kemp McDonald, who died in August 1964. He is survived by his wife of 46 years, Lillian Kepner Larrimore; five children, Judy Kemp Hall (Fred) of Severna Park, Patricia McDonald Hopkins (Tom) of West River, H. Richard Duden, III (Nancy) of Annapolis, Judson Kepner Larrimore (Sharon) of Westminster, and Jason Larrimore Duden (Catherine) of Edgewater; eight grandchildren, Peter Hall, Jean Hall, Tom Hopkins, Spencer Hopkins, Rachel Duden, Hank Duden, Josh Larrimore and Jake Larrimore; and two great-grandchildren, Madeline Hopkins and Ann Marie Mahoney. A memorial service will be held 10 a.m., Wednesday, April 10, at the U.S. Naval Academy Chapel located at 101 Cooper Road on the Yard. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in his name to Hospice of the Chesapeake, 445 Defense Highway, Annapolis, MD 21401.