David Crocker Duddles

David Crocker Duddles was born on October 29, 1929, in Ulen, Minnesota. He passed away on February 10, 2026, at the Pines Health Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. His parents, Ralph Emerson Duddles and Ethel Crocker Duddles, were both educators. He was predeceased by his brother, Ralph Thomas Duddles, and his sister, Katharine Marilyn Nyquist. He was also predeceased by his wife of 63 years, Elizabeth Wolcott Duddles. David is survived by his children, Gayle Thomas, Nathan Duddles and Craig Duddles, and grandchildren, Erin-Beth Baily, Nathan Duddles, Ian Thomas, Jordan Thomas, Lucas Duddles and Justin Duddles.

David met Elizabeth through Intervarsity Christian Fellowship while they were both students at the University of Minnesota. They began their teaching careers together in Kenai, Alaska. Following several years of teaching in Alaska and in preparation for teaching in the Belgian colony of the Congo, they completed a year of study in Brussels, Belgium. In Congo, he and Beth taught secondary school at Bolenge where David taught math and science in French, and physical education in Lingala. In addition, he directed the band and coached track. Some of his former students became leaders in the newly formed nation now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

David and Beth were emergently evacuated from the Congo in 1961 at the time of the fight for independence. They resumed teaching in Napa, California where David worked in the Napa Valley Unified School District for 29 years as a middle school teacher, counselor, coach, and administrator. He served as head counselor at Ridgeview Middle School and faculty sponsor of the honor society. Each year he led the honor society students in hosting a wonderful holiday party for the local Head Start preschoolers. He was the lead teacher for the “Silverado Surfers” at Silverado Middle School and was nominated Silverado’s Teacher of the Year. He especially enjoyed working with his students in soccer and track and in the counseling office.

David also enjoyed researching Napa Valley history. He developed and taught courses on this topic to fellow educators through Sonoma State University. He and his son Craig wrote and published a book on this history entitled “Silverado Squatters in Pictures: Seeing the Napa Valley through the eyes of Robert Louis Stevenson”.

David was the founding chairman of both the Napa Valley Creekside Community Church and the Napa Young Life committee. He also served on the local Salvation Army advisory board, was a life member of the Napa Valley Historical Society, and a member of the peer counseling advisory board of Vintage High School.

David deeply loved his wife, children, and grandchildren. He enjoyed rock collecting, croquet, tennis, growing grapes, and raising sheep. He was an avid fisherman at Hume Lake, California, where the family had a cabin for many years. David and Beth moved to Chapel Hill, in 2000 to be near their daughter and her family. He became an avid Tar Heel fan and an active member of the Chapel Hill Bible Church where he participated in the international student ministry. They moved again to the Carolina Meadows community in 2015 where they met many new wonderful friends. During the pandemic, David found fulfillment in teaching croquet classes to

his fellow retirees. His motivation for living is found in Philippians 1:6, “For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.“