Lt. Col. Ronald W. Duncan passed away Sunday, May 14, 2023, surrounded by his loving family. This obituary is slightly biased as it is written by his adoring daughter.
Ronnie, as known by his friends and allies, was born on 08 June 1951 in Alexander City, Alabama to Donald and “Irene” (neé Denny) and was big brother, a role he took seriously in both love and harassment, to Wanda Porter (nee Duncan) of Loxley, Alabama.
Ronnie was a kindhearted but stoic man that loved and deeply respected nature. He had a true appreciation and wealth of knowledge of native flora and fauna. He was an avid outdoorsman and proud “country-boy”. He found his true happiness with his high school sweetheart, Eleanor “Tootie” Duncan (neé Miller) on Week’s Bay where they enjoyed bay sunsets, boating and fishing and tending to the local spoiled wildlife around their home.
Ron graduated in 1969 from John F. Kennedy Senior High School in New Orleans, Louisianna. In 1974, he earned his Bachelor of Architecture from Louisiana State University, where he was a member of Theta Xi fraternity. He remained close friends with his best brothers from grade school to college throughout his entire life.
“Bear” was a proud to serve in the United States Airforce Reserves. Though his dream of being a fighter pilot was not what the Fates had in mind for him, he has a very meaningful and impactful career as a member of the Prime Beef Civil Engineering Corps where he deployed all over South America and Europe. During the deployments to South America, his squadron built schools for the local children, improved upon existing infrastructure and hospitals for the people of Honduras, Nicaragua and Jamaica. He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1999 after 20 years of service.
He devoted his professional civilian life to construction and architecture. Ron retired as Senior Project Manager from Parsons Brinkerhoff in 2015. Included in his professional portfolio was the conversion of Bergstrom Air Force Base to Austin Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA- Austin, Texas), and countless other expansion and renovations of airports across the Southern United States and India. Though he was an expert on airports, the postal station conversion of the old Cloverland Dairy on S. Carrolton St in New Orleans remained one of his favorite projects.
“Reynaldo” was an incredibly loving father to his two children Ashley (Leander, Texas) and Kyle. Although no one was good enough for his “Baby Girl”, he tolerated his POG Army veteran husband, Adam Bailey. He particularly enjoyed being an indulgent grandfather, “GD”, to his granddaughter, Emily (Leander, Texas), who eagerly shared his sometimes-irreverent sense of humor, and his grandson, Weston (Leander, Texas), who were bonded by their love of nature, especially birds, and sketching. Tragically, Ronnie was preceded in death by his Kyle (December 2022), but we are confident they are together again, night fishing for Red Fish.
Visitation and services were held at Wolfe-Bayview Funeral Home in Fairhope, Alabama on Friday, 19 May 2023, at 10 AM. Ronnie was laid to rest at Barrancas National Cemetery located on Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida where he will have VIP views of the Blue Angels training and flyovers.
