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Richard Duncan Obituary
Born in Tacoma, Washington on August 21, 1932 and raised on Alki Beach, Richard was a proud West Seattleite. He was the middle son of Ethel and Bruce Duncan, with brothers Bruce & Donald.
From Alki Elementary, Madison Junior High, WSHS class of 1950 onto his doctorate degree from University of Washington, where he was later a professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
He was a passionate world traveler and explorer -- traveling to six continents with highlights including the Galapagos Islands, Egypt's Pyramids, India, China, Kenya and Russia. He backpacked all through Europe, and mountain climbed all the Cascade volcanoes and hiked extensively throughout the Pacific NW. He was a fierce environmentalist and co-founder of Portland's ORE Plan in the early 1970's- the nation's first curbside recycling program. He worked in his field for Boeing & Puget Power, and at SESCO in Saudi Arabia.
He was a scientist, scholar and writer with numerous published works. An inspirational visit to Chaco Canyon in New Mexico became the starting place for his later work on man and energy. His opus was the Olduvai Theory, research and predictions on world energy and population. He was invited and spoke on this topic at the United Nations, Yale and many prestigious events and institutions.
Richard was well-known for walking around the wonderful North Admiral neighborhood with his signature mountain trekking poles. He waved and talked to old and new friends on his adventures. He was a true minimalist- his life mantra "Simplify, simplify, simplify". He had a strong handshake, a fantastic laugh, warm hugs, great humor and beautiful blue eyes. His girls have memories of an abundance of homemade yogurt and bread and enormous backyard gardens.
He loved his family- daughters Delana Duncan, Janine (Brian) Monnin & Lisa (Michael) Bunker &his five grandsons Wally, Clive, Vonn, Theo and Duncan. He was very proud of his Norwegian & Scottish heritage.
He passed away peacefully at home, on March 12, 2016 surrounded by his 3 daughters.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Memories and Condolences
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4 Entries
Mike Byers
April 15, 2016
I feel very lucky to have run across Richard during one of his walks in the Admiral district in West Seattle. He was a happy interruption to weekend yard work over the years when he would stop by to talk and share some of his latest observations. He was always happy, always welcome, and he will be missed. I will never forget when he led a number of us on a local tour of the electrical grid in the Admiral district. Thanks for the tour Richard. We'll miss you.
April 13, 2016
You can tell the core quality of a man by how his own children felt about him, and I can honestly say Rich's three daughters loved him very much.
Patrick McNally
April 12, 2016
Proud to have been listed in his acknowledgments on The Social Contract and proud that he bought lunch for me in July 2015. I'll miss him.
Richard Pelto
April 12, 2016
Richard was a valuable contributor to a discussion group I organized in the 1990s called the Third Place Academy.
It was devoted to understanding from as wide a perspective as possible the potential consequences of continuing ecological degradation, resource depletion, deepening of the population "footprint," and continuing political and economic unsustainability.
That led to his becoming a good friend and advisor who is sorely missed.
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