Vernon R. Duncan

BOONE COUNTY – Vernon Robert Duncan downplayed his role in bringing Knothole baseball to Northern Kentucky, even though he was inducted into the Northern Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame in 1996 for his work.

He recently shared his feelings about his role, stories of the early days and gave memorabilia to Hall of Fame President Joe Brennan, who was preparing the Knothole exhibit currently on display at the Behringer-Crawford Museum in Covington.

"He really helped us put a lot of information together about Boone County, who the people were who brought it over from Cincinnati and who kept it alive all these years," Brennan said. "But he said his biggest accomplishment was marrying his wife, Betty. She's the one who made up the schedules and reported results to the papers. He said he was just the one that drove her everywhere she needed to go."

"They worked as a team," said his daughter, Michelle Finn of Boone County.

Mr. Duncan died Saturday, March 5, at Hospice of St. Elizabeth Healthcare in Edgewood from cancer. He was 78.
He grew up in Dayton with his older sister and parents, Wayne and Virginia Duncan. He was a Korean War Navy veteran and an electrical control design engineer for General Electric. He met and married his wife, Betty Jane in 1956. They raised their family in unincorporated Boone County.

In the early 1970s, he helped form the Boone County Amateur Sports Club. The ball fields were near the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.

During the games, his wife sold soft drinks and candy out of the back of their station wagon. When the airport started its expansion, they realized they needed to find other land for fields. Mr. Duncan and others searched and found land on Camp Ernst Road in Union.

With the candy proceeds, they were able to pay $1,000 for the down payment on the land. He worked with the Army Corps of Engineers to bring the Boone County Sports Complex to fruition. The league officially became Knothole in 1974.

He served as assistant supervisor for District 24 Knothole in Boone County from 1973-78. He also helped start a girls' softball league.

He worked at GE for 36 years, retiring in 1991. He also enjoyed playing golf and was a member of the Senior Golf League at Devou Park.

"He was an excellent golfer," his daughter said. "I thought he should try out for the professional senior league. He snickered at me like I put him up too high. But, I don't – he was that good."

Mr. Duncan reveled when he had the chance to stand on the 18th hole of the Old Course at St. Andrews in Fife, Scotland. Even though he had not played a round there, he was thrilled to be standing on its grounds. He rolled a sack of golf balls on the well-groomed grass. Later, he tagged each ball with a note about its brush on the famous green and gave them away to family and friends, his daughter said.

His wife died in October and son, Douglas Duncan, died previously.

Along with his daughter, survivors include daughter, Deborah Duncan and son, Gregory Duncan, both of Boone County; four grandchildren; two step-grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and two stepgreat-grandchildren.

Visitation will be 11 a.m. to noon Thursday, March 10, with service following at Linnemann Family Funeral Home and Cremation Center, Erlanger. Burial will be in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Erlanger. Memorials: Parish Kitchen, P.O. Box 1234, Covington, KY 41012; or Hospice of St. Elizabeth Healthcare, 483 South Loop Road, Edgewood, KY 41017.

Online condolences to www.linnemannfuneralhomes.com.