Jack Malcolm Duncan Jr.

Born in Seattle Washington, Jack was raised in Portland, Oregon by his parents Jack and Margaret Duncan in a family that included one older sister and three younger brothers. He first attended Hayhurst Grade school and then in 1956 the family moved to the community of Maplewood, where they would remain. In 1964 Jack graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School.

With the war in Vietnam escalating he was soon drafted into the U.S. Army. It is there Jack would become a military hero, receiving two purple hearts and a bronze star. On two different occasions he was wounded, leaving him with scars that coincidently were in the same locations as his father had received as a war hero in World War II on the European front. Jack was very modest about his heroism, but very proud to have served. He attended annual Vietnam veterans reunions, and displayed his veteran status on his license plates.

After his military service Jack returned to academics where he attended Portland Community College, Portland State University and Lewis and Clark College. While at Portland State he played baseball for the famous coach Roy Love. It was at Lewis and Clark that Jack earned his Master of Arts in Teaching. After graduating Jack would apply his teaching degree and Spanish language skills by taking his young family on a year-long teaching assignment to Costa Rica. This would prove to be an adventure that included pitching for a baseball team in the Costa Rican national baseball league. This is where he earned the nickname “Brazo de Fuego” which translates to Arm of Fire. He and his family would meet fascinating people and have many amazing adventures.

Jack would return to the US in 1973 where he would take a job at the Safeway Warehouse in Clackamas. A loyal employee, he enjoyed a long career and would retire 29 years later. Here he built a special rapport with the Spanish speaking workers with whom there was a deep sense of mutual respect.

Something truly great happened to Jack during his college days: it was at Portland Community College that he met the love of his life, Chris Suni. They were married in 1971. After the assignment in Costa Rica Jack and Chris settled in Gladstone, Oregon to raise a family of three boys. Chris became very active in the Lutheran Church, and Jack had a real passion for his hobbies. He dedicated himself these hobbies more or less one decade at a time. First it was softball, then fishing, then long distant running, completing marathons in Portland and Boston. Later he would play baseball on multiple senior leagues simultaneously. His last dedicated endeavor was golf, where he played nearly every single day, mainly in the men's league at Stone Creek and as a member at the Willamette Valley Country Club.

Jack is preceded in death by his parents, Jack and Margaret, and his brother Paul Duncan. He is survived by his wife Chris, sons Jack III of Canby, Ken (Kala) of Colton, Jesse (Andrea) of Silverton, and seven grandchildren. He is also survived by his sister Kathy (Dan) of Garberville, California, and his brothers Dave (Cathie) of Portland, Oregon and Jeff (Susan) of Topsham, Maine.