Bob Duncan, 87, passed on November 16 2007. Born November 13, 1920 on the kitchen table of a four room farmhouse near Garber, Oklahoma, he was the last of seven boys produced by Robert E. Lee and Ula Catlet Duncan. His parents were from Kentucky. His Dad came out to the Oklahoma Territory in the 1880's and, on September 18, 1893, rode a thoroughbred in the great Oklahoma land rush, known as the Cherokee Strip Run, to stake a claim to 360 acres of untamed land NE of Enid. Most probably, Robert Lee was of those who gave rise to the state nickname, "Sooners." His family called him "June" or Junior. His childhood was tough. The great depression had arrived in Oklahoma in the 1890's and hung around until after WWII. Money was non-existent. Like everybody else, the Duncan's lived off what they produced. They grew crops, using teams of mules, raised hogs, chickens for the eggs and cows for the milk and butter. He and his brothers slept three to a bed. They were hard at it from four in the morning to sundown every day. Someone told June that a way out of that life was football which he took up in high school. His senior year, he was named All-State as a center and got a scholarship to OU. In those days, scholarships consisted of books, tuition and one meal a day. After practice, he cleaned up a doctor's office each night for a cot to sleep on in the back room. He had no money. He was constantly famished. After that blissful year in Norman, the football coach from Southwestern contacted him and offered him a scholarship. He said when he came to Winfield in the fall of 1941, he had this overpowering feeling that he was home. He made a point of going to every store in downtown to introduce himself to the merchants. He and Joe Vann, the star quarterback, became fast and, it turns out, lifetime best friends. The college got them jobs at the Winfield Fire Department to make ends meet. College ended when Junior jumped in a sedan with four other students and headed off to Kansas City in May, 1942 to enlist in the United States Navy. That spring, he had met Jane Gary. She was the first to call him "Dunc". After training as a dive bomber pilot, he found himself at the age of 23 heading to the South Pacific where he joined up with Bombing Squadron Nineteen attached to the U.S.S. Lexington. He flew a Curtiss SB2C Helldiver and saw action at Guam, the Palau Islands, the Bonin Islands, Formosa, and the Philippine Islands where he fought in the Second Battle of the Philippines, including, on October 24-25, 1944, the Battle for Leyte Gulf, the greatest sea-air naval battle in world history. He was awarded the Naval Air Medal for scoring a direct hit on a Japanese cargo vessel near the Bonin Islands, a Gold Star in lieu of a second Air Medal for shooting down a Japanese Bomber, or "Betty", east of the Philippines, the Distinguished Flying Cross for strafing and bombing two ships at Manila Harbor, and the Navy Cross, second only to the Medal of Honor, for sending a 1000 lb. bomb down the smokestack of a Japanese Ise Class Battleship, thus sinking it, on October 25th during the Battle for Leyte Gulf. In December, 1944, Dunc returned to Winfield and married Jane Gary on Christmas day. After completing his naval service in 1947, he and Jane settled in Winfield where they went to work raising Dana, Gary and Craig. Paul McNabb and Dunc started a drilling company where they found too many dry holes. He went on to work as a roughneck, an oil field supply salesman for Midland Supply Company and operated a municipal water main cleaning business. In 1960, he borrowed $6,000 and started Winfield Iron & Metal, a business he and Craig built into a successful scrap metal, new steel and welding supply business that is still going strong after 47 years. In the 1980's he served on the city commission and was mayor when the city's acquisition of St. John's College campus was negotiated. For all his tenacity and toughness, Bob Duncan was a tremendously kind, considerate and loving human being. He truly had a sweet nature. His family adored him. He loved Winfield. He loved its people. Winston Churchill once said, "What is the use of living if it be not to make this world a better place for those who live in it after we are gone." It never dawned on Bob Duncan that he was fulfilling that mission as he lived his life. Those of us that had the honor of being around him know that is exactly what he did. He will be sorely missed. Dunc is survived by his wife of 63 years, Jane, three children and their spouses, six grandchildren, two with spouses, and two great grandchildren. A memorial wake will be held at the American Legion on Saturday, November 24 , 2007 beginning at 2:00 P.M . All who were touched by him over the years are invited. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Southwestern College, the Kansas Veterans Home, or to the William Newton Healthcare Foundation. Contributions may be made at Miles Funeral Service.