Charles William Duncan, Jr.

His long life exemplified the best of his generation, through service to his country, his state, his city, and his family. With Anne, his wife of 65 years, by his side, and fueled by his strong sense of duty and loyalty, he lived a life full of integrity, business success, good works, and adventure alongside beloved friends and family. People loved his generous spirit, and no one was too insignificant to receive his sincere attention and kindness.

Charles was born the 9th of September 1926, in Houston, Texas, to Charles William Duncan and Mary Lillian House, and grew up on Avalon Street with his younger brother, John. He attended public schools in Houston and graduated from Sewanee Military Academy in 1943. He returned to Houston and enrolled at the Rice Institute (now Rice University). In 1944, while attending Rice, and on his 18th birthday, he and his best friend, Jack Trotter, joined the Army Air Forces as Aviation Cadets, and as World War II was coming to an end, Charles was honorably discharged after nine months of service. Upon graduating from Rice in 1947 with a degree in chemical engineering, he worked briefly as a roustabout for Humble Oil and Refining. Encouraged by his father to join the family coffee business, he attended the University of Texas at Austin to study business.

Charles began work at the Duncan Coffee Company in 1949, ultimately running the business until it was sold in 1957 upon the death of his uncle, Herschel Mills Duncan. He remained at the company as President under the new owners, but he and his brother formed a partnership with many childhood friends, including Ed Randall, to repurchase the company in 1959. Charles, along with a management team that included Pierre Roberts, rapidly expanded the business through acquisitions, extending Duncan Coffee’s range from Texas to most of the central part of the country. Among the purchases was Butternut Foods in Omaha, where that company’s head of sales, Don Keough, would follow Charles’ career path and become another life-long friend.

In 1964, Duncan Coffee was acquired by The Coca-Cola Company, which merged the coffee business with their Minute Maid Company to form the Coca-Cola Foods Division. Charles led Coca Cola Foods for three years before he and his wife, Anne, moved their young family to London to establish Coca-Cola Europe, a territory extending from Iceland to India, including Africa and the Middle East. He and Anne embraced their new life of overseas living and travel as he managed the far-flung operations of the company. Through Charles’ talent at forming friendships from business relationships, he and Anne made enduring connections in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, India, and Japan. They truly made the most of his employment at a global corporation and enjoyed the local culture in all of their travels.

After working under the mentorship of Coke Chairman Robert Woodruff—who greatly prized his relationship with Charles, commenting in a Forbes article from 1971 that the allure of buying Duncan Coffee wasn’t simply the brand but for the privilege of “acquiring Charles Duncan,”—he became the President of Coca-Cola and the Duncan family moved to Atlanta. Expanding on Coca-Cola’s pioneering lifestyle advertising, Charles was especially proud of his participation in the development of the swoop logo and the “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke” advertisements. In 1974, he left his active role at Coca-Cola to return to Houston, but he retained a board seat and kept an active interest in the company for the rest of his life.

In 1976, President-Elect Jimmy Carter asked Charles to become Deputy Secretary of Defense. His time in Atlanta had overlapped with Carter’s governorship of Georgia, and he was tasked with managing the day-to-day operations of the Department of Defense at the Pentagon in the new administration. Thus, the family moved to Washington D.C. Charles was always pragmatic with his political views and prided himself at being able to work across the aisle. At his confirmation hearing, he was introduced and sponsored by both Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, Democrat of Texas, and Sen. Alan Simpson, Republican of Wyoming. He often said his two and a half years at the Pentagon were the most rewarding time in his career. It was here that he met Colin Powell, who was named his military aide. The two traveled together to Iran in December 1978 for the last official meeting between the Shah of Iran and the U.S. government prior to the Iranian revolution. The following year, when Powell received his promotion to Brigadier General, Charles pinned the star on Powell’s epaulet.

In 1979, as the energy crisis took hold, President Carter appointed Charles to his Cabinet as the Secretary of Energy, citing his exceptional management and leadership skills as being his key qualifications to successfully guide the department. He worked diligently with the governments of other countries and with Middle East producers to help stem the supply and demand imbalance. He also oversaw the first meaningful efforts by the U.S. to develop alternative energy sources. Despite his historic achievements heading the newly formed Department of Energy, Charles—characteristically modest—liked to joke that his only previous experience in the oil industry was working a few weeks on Texas rigs as a low-rung laborer.

In a statement from the Carter Center after Charles’ death, President Carter noted, “As my Deputy Secretary of Defense, he championed the modernization of our services and the equality of women’s rights. As Secretary of Energy, his leadership resulted in a dramatic reduction in imported oil and stabilization of our domestic consumption. His intelligence and ability have provided a lasting example of a steady hand and encouraged cooperation.”

Upon returning home to Houston, Charles rejoined his brother and his son in the investment business. He reconnected with old friends including previous real estate partners Gerald Hines and Howard Horne; with others in the 1960’s, this group had built some of Houston’s iconic buildings, including The Galleria. Charles also enjoyed many engaging lunches with his friend, Fayez Sarofim, and both of their sons discussing markets, politics, social trends, and investing. During this time, Charles joined a number of corporate boards, including Texas Commerce Bank (now JPMorgan Chase), American Express, and United Technologies, where he served for many years as lead director. In addition, he served on the boards of Texas Eastern, Elf Aquitaine (now TotalEnergies), and Newfield Exploration which Charles co-founded with Joe B. Foster. Later in life, he managed the affairs of Duncan Interests and Duncan Capital Management with the help of an able team led by Michael Hay, Laura Meinhardt, Pete Faust, and Betty Bruffy. In addition to corporate governance, Charles was active in city affairs, participating in leadership at the Houston Chamber of Commerce and the Houston Economic Development Council, helping to merge the two entities to become today’s Greater Houston Partnership, where he served as the first Chairman and remained active for many years. In a similar refrain from all who knew him, friend and fellow colleague in numerous ways, Rich Kinder, remarked that he, “long admired Charles as a person of great substance without any delusions of grandeur despite his success, and just a delight to be around—with a sly sense of humor and the highest integrity, and who always cared deeply for those around him and the causes he championed.”

Charles’ primary civic interest was always education, expressed though his life-long service to his alma mater, Rice University. George R. Brown, the Chairman of Rice’s board at the time, encouraged him to join the Board of Governors in 1965, and upon his return to Houston from Washington D.C., he became a Trustee and was elected the university’s Chairman in 1982. During his long association with Rice, he served alongside many of the university’s Presidents including Norman Hackerman, George Rupp, Malcolm Gillis, and David Leebron. Dr. Leebron noted, “Charles was an extraordinary figure in Rice history, and also just an extraordinary human, who couldn’t have been more generous in spirit to me, and everyone else he encountered. The single word that comes to mind is ‘grace.’ His contributions across the campus cannot be overstated—from his support to music, engineering, athletics, international studies, and particularly student life through the establishment of Duncan College. The Rice community will miss his compassionate and far-sighted guidance.”

Among Charles’ many accomplishments at Rice was his part in the founding of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy. In the late 1990’s, Rice University named it’s center for computational engineering Anne and Charles Duncan Hall in their honor and, in 2007, he and Anne celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary by funding the establishment of Duncan College, Rice University’s first ever green building. Charles’ interest in education extended beyond Rice to public education in Texas, and he was appointed by Governor Mark White to the Select Committee on Public Education and to the State Board of Education. He also founded the Texas Business and Education Coalition in 1989. Charles and Anne have been generous to many other Houston organizations, most notably the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and Houston Methodist Hospital.

Valuing leisure as much as work, Charles enjoyed fishing in the Florida Keys, skiing in the Rockies, shooting in South Texas, camping in Africa, and playing tennis everywhere. Over 50 years ago, he and Anne bought Buffalo Bill’s TE Ranch in Cody, Wyoming, and with the help of managers, Karen and Curt Bales, “the TE” has been the family’s favorite way to entertain friends while enjoying ranching traditions. Charles delighted in his many years of ranching partnership, back country camping, and enduring friendship with the McCarty family. In keeping with his habit of civic engagement, Charles served for many years as a Trustee of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, and over the last three decades, he and Anne had the great privilege of watching their grandchildren grow to love the TE Ranch as much as they do.

Charles and his beloved wife, Anne Smith, were married in Houston in 1957. Their son, Charles III, was born in 1959, and their daughter, Mary Anne, in 1961. Though the family spent many years in London, Atlanta, and Washington, home was always Houston. Many happy holidays were spent there with Charles’ family or in Smith Bend with Anne’s Family. Charles was blessed to be close to his brother, John, all his life, and throughout the years, their families shared many vacations and time at Honey Creek Ranch. He was a devoted father and grandfather and proudly attended all manner of horse shows, softball tournaments, lacrosse games, and graduations. His grandson, Paul, graduated from Rice University in 2017, and Charles was on stage at age 91 to hand Paul his diploma - 70 years after receiving his own.

Charles was preceded in death by an infant son, his parents, his sister Mary Elise Duncan, and his brother, John House Duncan. His sisters-in-law, Jeaneane Duncan, Barbara Alexander, and Loeene Nelson, and his brother-in-law Donald Smith also predecease him. He is survived by his wife Anne; his son Charles William Duncan, III and wife, Leslie Rowan Duncan; his daughter Mary Anne Duncan Dingus, and husband William Frederick Dingus. His five beloved grandchildren also survive him: Elizabeth Anne (Lizby) Dingus, Sarah Worthington Duncan, William Paul Dingus, Leslie Anne (Annie) Duncan, and Mariah Lillian Dingus. Charles is also survived by his nephew, John H. Duncan, Jr.; his niece, Nena Duncan Marsh; his sisters-in-law, Brenda Duncan, Bette Washburn, and Sandra Turner; and many other relatives.

The Duncan family is deeply grateful to Dr. Marc Boom and the team at Houston Methodist who provided Charles with the best care and quality of life in his twilight years. The family also wishes to express special thanks to Margarita Mejivar, James Brewer, and others who cared for Charles with love and devotion.

A memorial service celebrating his life is to be conducted at ten o’clock in the morning on Tuesday, the 25th of October, in the sanctuary of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, 3471 Westheimer Road in Houston, where Dr. Tom Pace, Senior Pastor is to officiate.

KINDLY NOTE: Those unable to attend may view the service remotely by visiting Mr. Duncan’s online memorial tribute at GeoHLewis.com and selecting the “Join Livestream” icon in the “Services” section. While there, you may also share fond memories and words of comfort and condolence electronically with his family by selecting the “Add A Memory” icon.

Immediately following, all are invited to greet the family during a reception to be announced during the service.

The family will gather for a private interment at Glenwood Cemetery in Houston.

Those honored to serve as Charles’ pallbearers during Tuesday’s service are J.D. “Bucky” Allshouse, Curtis A. Bales, William F. Dingus, W. Paul Dingus, John H. Duncan, Jr., Titus H. Harris, III, Michael H. McCarty, and Donald G. Roberts.

In lieu of customary remembrances, the family requests with gratitude that memorial contributions in Charles’ name be directed to the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, 720 Sheridan Ave, Cody, WY, 82414; to the Houston Methodist Hospital Foundation, 1707 Sunset Blvd, Houston, TX, 77005; to Rice University, 6100 Main St., Houston, TX, 77005; or to the charity of one’s choice.