Jack Eugene Duncan

Jack Eugene Duncan

Jack Eugene Duncan, a former Lab engineer, died May 2. He was 94.

Duncan passed away at his Newcastle home surrounded by his family. He is survived by his daughter Carla Cox, son David (Judy) Duncan, and daughter Linda (Neil) Wyse. Other survivors include four grandchildren, two great grandsons, nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his wife Cleona, brother William Duncan, sister Fay Leonard and his parents John and Eva Duncan.

Duncan grew up in Stirling City, California, a logging town northeast of Paradise. His family moved to Vallejo while he was in high school. In 1943 he enlisted in the Army as an aviation cadet, attended navigator training and was commissioned as a second lieutenantin 1944. He served in the Army Air Corps as a navigator on C-46 transport aircraft in the Pacific Theater and was slated to transport troops into Japan for the mainland invasion when the war ended. After returning to civilian life, he attended University of California, Berkley, graduating in 1951 with a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering. His first job as a graduate was in Richmond,  designing and building a hydraulic press. He and his young family moved to Livermore in 1953, where he worked at Lawrence Livermore  in nuclear device development for 29 years.

He met  Cleona in 1943 when he was stationed briefly in Colorado during WWII. They  were married in Vallejo in 1948. They raised their three children in Livermore. The family was very active, going on camping and jeep trips, water skiing, snow skiing, backpacking, whitewater rafting, and travel vacations to Alaska, Canada and the Western states. Following retirement, he and Cleona built a home outside of Newcastle where they enjoyed their country life for 37 years. They continued to live an active life together, traveling to Europe, China, Greece and around the United States, and enjoyed activities with their children and grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that friends make a donation in his name to the Stirling City Historical Society, the Placer County Historical Society, or a charity of their choice. For more information contact Chapel of the Hills at (530) 885-3773 or see the website at www.chapelofthehills-auburn.com.