A hero of our times
Dennis Duncan passed away this week enveloped in the love and appreciation of his family.
Uncle Din spent many decades as an elementary and middle school teacher in the Port Angeles School District, teaching math and computers. I have always admired his dedication and vocation as a teacher. He was passionate in his quest to engage his students and excite them to learning. After retiring he practiced the art of storytelling and spent the next 25 years or more sharing folk tales and other value-laden stories in classrooms and around the community.
When my husband Jim and I and our three children moved back home to Port Angeles five years ago from Bolivia, my youngest son, Jacob, was 7. He inserted mid-year in the second grade at Dry Creek Elementary School. In this new and unfamiliar environment, he knew no one, and was faced with many words and routines that he was not accustomed to. It was a lonely experience for him for several months. However, he came home from his very first day enthusiastic about a storyteller who had come to his classroom. I was delighted, “Was it Uncle Din?” Jake kept saying, no, it was someone else. “It was Mr. Duncan.” Jacob had been barely 3 the last time Uncle Din had captivated some of the younger generation of my family with his storytelling, and Jake didn’t remember him. But, when your 80-year-old great uncle comes into your classroom to share stories, you know you belong. Jake really enjoyed the routine and good feeling of the weekly classroom storytelling visits by his great uncle, Mr. Duncan.
With Uncle Din’s quiet voice, humble manner and appreciative chuckle, he has always been a favorite with me. I remember when he played Tweedle Dum (or was it Tweedle Dee?) in the Port Angeles Children’s Theatre production of Alice in Wonderland. He and my aunt Dorothy and all five of my cousins were very involved in the children’s theater program in the 1970’s and 80’s. I so looked forward to those productions! They were always great at broadening the creative and whimsical imagination of the Port Angeles community. Clearly for Uncle Din engaging in theater productions, like putting on a storytelling hat, was a way to open the hearts of children (and adults) to catch deep truths and inspire one another.
It meant a lot to me in 1982 when Uncle Din came to Crescent High School’s production of The Diary of Anne Frank to watch my sister Kristin and I on stage. I remember that he told us that all our months of rehearsal had paid off and it was the best high school play he had ever seen. Uncle Din was great on best ever’s. Last winter my son Daniel helped him out occasionally by cooking dinner with him. He told me recently that a rib steak Daniel cooked from our farm was “the best steak he had ever eaten.”
In my heart, and I’ll bet in the hearts of thousands of others, Dennis Duncan will always be Port Angeles’ “best” community hero ever.
We love you, Uncle Din! Thanks for caring so much.
If you are looking for inspiration, here are a couple “must read” articles about Uncle Din:
In all truthfulness, though, this is only half the story. If I were going to award a “Best Ever Port Angeles Community Hero” award, I would share the award between Uncle Din and Aunt Dort. Dorothy Duncan was a community leader who for decades served our community with integrity, vision and care. Dorothy and Dennis Duncan both spent their lives in love and service to the Port Angeles community. I hold them both in my heart with deep gratitude and love.
Cover photo, Peninsula Daily News, October 16, 2014. Dennis Duncan at Jefferson Elementary School.