Obituary of Robert Duke, Jr.

Robert Duke Retired University Professor Robert Edwin Duke, Jr., age 82, passed away Monday, October 20, 2003. He had been a resident at Guardian Care of Elizabeth City for the last year and a half. Before that, he lived for more than a decade at 405 N. Martin Street, long the home of Emily Jackson Duke before she predeceased her husband, June 24, 1988. It was also the home of his mother, Martha Truss Duke, who also predeceased him in 1997. Mr. Duke was born in Birmingham, AL (Jefferson County) January 3, 1921. He was a veteran who served five years as a US Army weatherman during World War II. Mr. Duke pursued a teaching career after earning BA and MA degrees in French from the University of North Carolina. He taught in Albemarle County, Rocky Mount and at the University of Tennessee at Martin before spending his final decades as a faculty member at Elizabeth City State University. Within the community he was active in support of and participation in theatre productions. He also wrote touching and open, loving letters to his home nation, America, and to his beloved surrogate nation, France, where he lived for five years in the late 1940s and early 1950s. At Guardian Care he loved to organize spelling bees, to greet and remember all patients and staff, to interact with and challenge religious fundamentalists, and to play Scrabble. Survivors include two brothers, James Alan Duke of Fulton, MD, and John Daniel Duke of Boone, NC. Their children include these surviving nephews and nieces and their families: John Carl Duke of Fulton, MD, Celia Gayle Duke Larson of Northville, MI, Miles Daly Duke of Atlanta, GA, and Cama Joyce Duke of Boone, NC. A memorial service will be held at a later date. Twiford’s Memorial Chapel, 405 East Church Street, Elizabeth City, NC, is in charge of arrangements. You may sign the online register at www.twifordfh.com.