Caroline Canoll Duncan

1923 - 2025

Caroline Canoll Duncan, 101, died Thursday, January 30, 2025, joining her husband, both daughters, and beloved grandson, Duncan Jones. We are sure there was great joy in that family reunion!

Caroline was born on March 11, 1923. Her 101 years of life included many joys and great sorrows. Wars, sickness, births, deaths, financial depression, and financial success. But in the end, hers was a life lived with dignity, manners, and truthfulness.

Truth, dignity, and manners are in short supply today, but Caroline exemplified a true lady coming from one of the seven founding immigrant families of the USA, the Ryerson's. She was smart, tough, insightful, generous, compassionate, and able to keep her wits about her no matter what life threw at her.

She was competitive in bridge and Rummikub, a gracious hostess, and a great cook. A smile that rewarded, a look that chastised, she was an impeccably dressed lady adored by friends who called her "a shining example to us all." She was a presence. A nephew said, "She was a very proud, intelligent, and caring aunt."

She raised two amazing and successful daughters, Pamela Duncan Backhaus, a creative and accomplished chocolatier, and Anne Duncan Jones, an entrepreneur and interior designer. She firmly but gently guided the life and career of her husband, Lloyd P. Duncan, whom she married on December 21, 1946, after he returned from WWII service in the Middle East.

Caroline was a lifetime member of Daughters of the American Revolution, a 60+ year member of PEO, an educational sorority, and a member of Venice Presbyterian Church. As a PEO member, she established a scholarship fund named in honor of her daughters, the Pamela Duncan Backhaus & Anne Duncan Jones Memorial Arts Scholarship Fund, held at the Gulf Coast Community Foundation.

"A capable wife, who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. She girds herself with strength and makes her arms strong. She opens her hand to the poor. She is not afraid. Strength and dignity are her clothing. She opens her mouth with wisdom. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband, too, and he praises her. Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." - Excerpts from Proverbs 31

A Memorial Service will be held on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, at 11:00 am in the Renaissance Room at Village on the Isle, 930 Tamiami Trail South, Venice, FL 34285.

In lieu of flowers, the family invites friends and supporters to honor Caroline's memory by contributing to the Pamela Duncan Backhaus & Anne Duncan Jones Memorial Arts Scholarship Fund. Please make checks payable to Gulf Coast Community Foundation with "Duncan Scholarship Fund" in the memo line and mail to: Gulf Coast Community Foundation, 601 Tamiami Trail South, Venice, FL 34285.