This Is Your Life: Paul E. Ducker

This Is Your Life: Paul E. Ducker

Compiled by Janice Ducker Green

This book was begun as a gift to Paul Ducker in honor of his 90th birthday. Although he didn’t live to see the final copy, he held and helped to proofread the first proof copy from his hospital bed.

Copies of this book are available at http://www.lulu.com/content/199885

Published by Beeline Press P.O. Box 1215 Hemingway, SC 29554 Copyright 2006 by Janice D. Green All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except where permitted by law.

Most photos have come from family collections. Many were copied from Mary Edna Ducker Liechty’s work, Life and Legacy of a Prussian Immigrant Circuit Minister: The Genealogy of Michael and Elizabeth Ducker’s Progency.

The picture of Sprinkleburg School on page 15 was copied from Shirley Willard’s Fulton County Folks, Vol. 2, Fulton County Historical Society, Rochester, Indiana, used with permission.

Additional information was gathered from The Genealogy of the Descendants of William Ford (1722-1821) © 2005 by Eric C. Nagle and Larry L. Ford of Huber Heights, Ohio.

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Contents Ancestry and Homeplace—5 Siblings—12 Mary Edna Ducker Liechty—13 Florence Odessa Ducker Sullivan—15 Childhood and Elementary School—17 McKinley School and High School—20 College and Seminary—23 Pastorates & Early Work History—25 Marriage—31 Pauline Marks Ducker—34 Paul & Pauline’s Family—37 Gary, Indiana—40 Rochester, Indiana—41 Curious Ways to Enjoy an Old House—47 Rochester Collage—48 Lapel, Indiana—49 Lapel Collage—53 Center Hill Lake Collage—54 Murfreesboro, Tennessee—55 Murfreesboro Collage—60 3

Family Vacations—61 Collage of Family Vacations—67 Later Trips for Paul & Pauline—68 Interests of Paul E. Ducker—69 Long Term Friends—72 Descendents of Paul E. Ducker—74 Keith William Ducker—74 Janice Elaine Ducker Green—77 Gary Lee Ducker—80 Joan Eileen Ducker—82 Paul Wayne Ducker—86 Peter Lau Man Ting—90 90th Birthday Celebration—91 Wesley Foundation Gathering—93 90th Birthday Quilt—94 Lessons My Father Taught Me—95

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Ancestry and Homeplace

Michael Ducker was Paul Ducker’s paternal great grandfather.

He immigrated to the United States from Prussia, a state in northeast Germany. His wife Elizabeth also came from Prussia. Oral tradition has hinted that Michael may have come to America as either a cabin boy or as a stowaway, though this has not been documented. Michael Ducker became a circuit riding minister who spent many long tedious weekend hours on horseback, traveling from one church to another. He also farmed during the week. Michael and Elizabeth appeared in the Miami County, Indiana census in 1850. They both died in a typhoid epidemic in Fulton County in the winter of 1856-57. There are records of eight children born to Michael and Elizabeth, however some may have died during the epidemic with their parents.

Isomar Aldridge Ducker was Paul’s paternal grandfather. When his parents died of typhoid he was raised in the home of David Bryant in Henry Township in Fulton County. Other brothers and sisters were raised by close neighbors. I. Aldridge Ducker married Mary C. Biddle, also of Fulton County. Mary Biddle’s father William Biddle moved from 6

Pennsylvania to Fulton County, Indiana in a covered wagon and obtained one of the original square mile (640 acre) sections of land made available from the Northwest Territory. This land was divided between his five daughters including Mary.

The Biddle family had very prestigious beginnings. Paul’s great (times six) grandfather was a financier to William Penn and came to America with him. Family tradition says that at one time he owned half of what is now New Jersey. A cemetery in Athens, Indiana near the Biddle property was named Mt. Pleasant for the land owned by the Biddle family in New Jersey. The Biddle graves were the first in this cemetery.

Aldridge Ducker was a Union soldier in the Civil War. He fought in the Battle of Chickamauga and participated in the march to Atlanta.

Aldridge developed pneumonia as a soldier and died when Paul’s father, Elza Ducker, was only eight years old.

Aldridge and Mary Ducker had three children. The first child, William Milo Ducker died at about two years of age. The second child was Amanda Jane though she was called “Dolly.” Paul’s father, Elza Ducker was their third child.

Paul’s grandfather, Aldridge Ducker was born in this house. It stood on the south farm until it burned down sometime between 1918 and 1920. Paul’s Aunt Amanda Jane “Dolly” Ducker Norris lived in the house at the time with her adopted son. After the house burned, another much 7

smaller house was built on the same location. Many years later the smaller house was sold to the John Ogle family who purchased it in the mid-late 1950s. Pictured above are Amanda, Aldridge, and Mary C. Biddle Ducker.

Paul’s neighbor Clarice Moore from Rochester shared memories of having often seen Amanda drive her sheep to Akron with her black horse and carriage. Paul refers to Amanda as “Aunt Dolly.” Amanda was married to Lewis Norris. The picture inserted in the foreground is Paul’s Grandfather, Aldridge Ducker.

Elza Ducker went to California as a youth, and had to get a job in a raisin factory to earn enough money to return to Indiana. His heart’s desire was to become a minister. He went to high school one year and to college one year, but he had a nervous breakdown from which he never fully recovered and had to give up on this dream. He became very active in the church and became Conference Superintendent. In 1911 he met and married Jennie Lucinda Ford, who was the Sunday School Secretary of a large United Brethren Church in Warsaw, Indiana.

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Elza Ducker was a strictly honest man. Paul remarked that his father couldn’t tell a lie. Even when trying to tell a joke or tall tale, he couldn’t get his father to confirm anything that wasn’t true. He also was opposed to any form of card playing, because he associated card playing with gambling. He did encourage the family to play dominoes, however, as it was helpful for teaching the children addition and math concepts. He and Jennie also enjoyed playing Chinese checkers.

Paul remembered his father as a very progressive farmer. He researched farming methods and insisted on using state-of-the-art methods in farming. He planted the apple orchard beside his house. He purchased a Reo, one of the earliest touring cars with a cloth top. He later traded it for a 1920 Chevy. In 1923 the Elza Ducker family moved to Elkhart for a short time so Elza could get treatment for tuberculosis.

Elza Ducker and Jennie Lucinda Ford Ducker playing Chinese checkers Paul believed his mother, Jennie Ducker, was part Indian, though the Ford family was of English descent. Jennie worked as a clerk in her brother’s store and was Sunday School Superintendent for her church.

After she completed grade school she continued to attend the same school 9

so she could learn more. Although high school wasn’t an option for her in that time, she was always well informed.

Jennie was a hard worker. She milked all the cows. Paul remembers her as always running as she went from the house to the barn, as she was diligent in everything she did. She sewed the clothing the family wore including an overcoat she made for Paul that had a fur collar.

Paul was teased by his classmates for the fur collar saying that made it a girl’s coat. Paul also remembered his mother’s beautiful handwriting from the letters he sent to her when he was in college. At mealtime, Paul’s mother wouldn’t let them drink water with their meal. They were to drink water before the meal so the water wouldn’t dilute the digestive juices in their stomachs as they ate.

Elza and Jennie Ducker had three children. Mary Edna was the oldest and Florence was second oldest. Because they still had no son, they tried a third time and produced a son who they named Paul Emmerson Ducker. Paul was named after the apostle Paul in the Bible and his father had dedicated him to the ministry at birth.

Jennie Ford Ducker in the middle is Paul’s mother. The other two women are her sisters, Anetta Ford and Edna Ford Bicknell.

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Paul Ducker was born in the house at the right of this picture on the “north farm.” It was built by his father, Elza Ducker.

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Siblings Paul had two sisters. The oldest sister was Mary Edna and the second sister who was one year older than Paul was Florence Odessa.

Paul, Florence, Elza & Jennie Ducker are standing behind the home place.

Left Picture Back: Mary Edna, Paul, and Florence Front: Jennie and Elza Ducker.

Above: Mary Edna, Jennie, and Paul Ducker—Spring of 1940

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Mary Edna Ducker Liechty

These two pictures are of Mary Edna. Paul did not specifically recall the automobile in the above picture.

Paul described his sister Mary Edna as brilliant, and cited a state essay contest in which she won a twenty dollar gold piece. She was an artist and created all the illustrations for her high school yearbook. She attended Indiana Central for two years with the financial backing of a cousin.

Mary Edna, Florence, and Paul each went into the ministry when Paul was encouraged to do so by their young pastor Gerald Stine, AKA “Stiney.” With two years of college already to her credit, Edna was given a church near Goshen, Indiana where she also attended Goshen College.

Edna married Freeman Liechty at this time and they had four sons, Howard Verlan, Harmon Lee, Allen Devon (who died at age two), and Larry Dean.

During WWII Mary Edna worked for the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, and later worked as a line leader for Whitehall Pharmaceutical Company.

Edna’s husband and three sons would entertain Paul’s children by playing guitars and other musical instruments when they visited. Janice also remembers Edna showing her many dolls she had collected that were dressed according to the country they represented.

Mary Edna and Freeman moved to Hemet, California in 1962 and divorced in 1964. She continued to live in Hemet for many years. She was employed with Industrial Carpenter’s Union for six years. She also served as secretary and receptionist for the Hemet Valley Christian 13

Church. Mary Edna returned to Elkhart, Indiana in 1979 and died November 3, 1992.

Mary Edna researched and wrote several genealogies of her ancestors. These were very helpful in the writing of this book and supplied many pictures that would have been otherwise unavailable.

Mary Edna and Freeman Jesse Liechty married April 28, 1934.

Edna’s three sons, Howard, Larry, & Harmon Liechty

Edna’s three sons, Larry, Howard, & Harmon Liechty

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Florence Odessa Ducker Sullivan Florence was born the middle child which worked to her disadvantage growing up. Paul was the first “successful” birth as their parents wanted a boy. So she had no distinction of being first or of being born male, so she lacked for attention. Much sibling rivalry separated Florence from Paul as well as Mary Edna. The Genealogy of the Descendants of William Ford (1722-1821) © 2005 by Eric C. Nagle and Larry L. Ford of Huber Heights, Ohio found on the Internet, supplied some of the following information as did Sylvia Ford Ritenour, a distant cousin.

Florence attended Indiana Central College with Paul and served as co-pastor with him on the Colburn Circuit which included the Colburn, Buck Creek and Ockley Churches located in the town of Ockley near Lafayette, Indiana. Later, she taught art, English and math in public school.

In 1956 she married Daryl W. Sullivan, a painter by trade. The Sullivans moved to San Lorenzo, California in the 1960s where Florence worked for the Livermore Radiation Laboratory as a mathematician and computer librarian. She retired in 1970 and moved to Ormond Beach, Florida.

While living in Ormond Beach, Florence was active in Church Women United of the United Methodist Church. She participated in many activities including making school kits to send overseas, making baby quilts for a local birthing center, and lap quilts for nursing homes. One year she was voted “Valiant Woman of the Year” by the Church Women United. Florence also taught Sunday School for many years.

Florence was highly intelligent and her mind was sharp to the end of her life. Sylvia Ritenour, who with her husband Lonnie provided care for Florence in her last years, reports that Florence continued to balance her checkbook without a calculator and worked crossword puzzles all her life.

Florence and Darrell Sullivan

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This picture of Florence, Paul, & Mary Edna was taken in the late `60s or early `70s in the Ducker’s home.

This picture of Paul, Florence, and Mary Edna (seated) was taken in Elkhart, Indiana in the late ‘80s or early ‘90s.

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Childhood and Elementary School Memories Teddy--The Dog with a Human Brain This picture of Paul was taken when he was about 2 or 3 years old with the family dog, Teddy, a spitz or Eskimo dog.

Teddy always brought in the mail. Teddy would meet the mailman at the road every day. The mailman put the mail in Teddy’s mouth so he could bring it into the house.

One day Paul’s father, Elza Ducker, was working with a horse-drawn cultivator in the farthest southeast field. The cultivator had an umbrella attached to it for shade, so Mr. Ducker put his cap on top of the umbrella because he didn’t think he needed it. Teddy saw him without a hat and went back to the house to get one for him. He picked up Florence or Edna’s hat in the yard to take to him. Paul’s mother saw him pick it up and assumed Mr. Ducker had sent him for it so she sent Teddy back with one of Mr. Ducker’s hats instead.

Another time Elza Ducker and a neighbor, Homer Moore, were putting a roof on the garage on the north farm when they noticed that one of Mr. Ducker’s gloves on the ground was missing. Mr. Ducker called Teddy, pointed to the glove and asked Teddy to get the other one—assuming Teddy had carried it off. Teddy took off across the yard and brought the other glove back. Homer Moore then exclaimed, “a dog with a human brain.”

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Horse trading—Paul remembers going with his parents to an evening social occasion, when a neighbor tried to talk to him about horse trading.

Paul was only 2-3 years old, but he was trading horses anyway.

Paul’s travels—Once toddler Paul decided to walk from his home to his grandfather Aldrige Ducker’s home across the highway and up a fairly long lane. His grandmother, Mary Biddle Ducker hurried to get to him before his mother did to prevent him from getting a spanking.

Paul cut his knee on a draw knife when he slid down a slide he created— a board propped up on trestles. The draw knife was at the bottom of his self-made slide. Paul was about 4 years old.

Rooster attack—Young Paul was running to the house with the mean farm rooster chasing him. Realizing that he couldn’t outrun the rooster, he quickly lay on his back and used his feet to kick off the rooster, again and again until he was rescued. This act became the brunt of many jokes—but it worked! Paul often told this story reflecting pride in his ingenuity!

Icy Capers—On one extra cold winter day Paul and the older neighbor children were walking home from school when they walked past the frozen pond. They weren’t allowed to play on the ice without permission, but they did it anyway putting their lunch boxes on the ground. When they got home Paul discovered that he had left his lunch box behind. His father went with him to retrieve the lunch box and found the tracks in the snow on the frozen pond. They all got in trouble that day for their disobedience.

Sprinkleburg School—Paul went to Sprinkleburg School for grades 1-4.

His father had also attended Sprinkleburg many years earlier. When Paul 18

was in the first or second grade the teacher asked the students to read the story of the prodigal son and write it down. Paul wrote it so well that the teacher asked him to tell it to the whole school the next day. Sprinkleburg School was one of the first brick school buildings built in the area. There were approximately twenty students in the first through eighth grades.

Paul insisted that he must have had some charm over the girls, because one day the girl sitting in front of him turned around and gave him a big hug, after which the teacher promptly separated them. The desks were the type that had the seat of one student attached to the front of the desk of the student who sat behind the first student. Paul said he was always timid around girls and was surprised in later life to hear a classmate tell him he could have had any girl he wanted when he was in school.

In 1923 Paul’s father moved his family to Elkhart for a short time while he took treatments for tuberculosis. They moved back in March when Paul found he had fallen behind in his third grade reader. During a test Paul took his book out of his desk to look up something and another student told on him. His teacher, Fred VanDuyne, gave him a lecture that he would never forget. He got a zero on the test. This was the first and only time he ever cheated, and the belief that cheating was wrong became a foundational part of his philosophy for the rest of his life.

During a revival young Paul joined the church. He emphasized that he went to the pastor after the service was over, and not during the alter call. He was later baptized in the Tippecanoe River with the adults.

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McKinley School and High School Memories McKinley School—Paul’s parents wanted him and his older sisters to go to McKinley School, so his mother instigated what we today would call a “car-pool” with two other neighbors to help make it possible. Other remaining parents of Sprinkleburg students were saddened by their decision, as the loss of these students eventually caused the Sprinkleburg School to close. The second year the school board for McKinley School approved the purchase of a school bus. Paul’s father quickly planned the route and got it approved. He then bought a chassis on which a school bus was mounted, and then he became the bus driver. On Sundays he used the bus to carry children to church. Later someone else out-bid Paul’s father and became the bus driver. Since the chassis belonged to Mr. Ducker, he purchased a cab and turned the chassis into a truck.

Paul attended McKinley School from the fifth grade to the eighth grade. During the 5th & 6th grade Paul felt the competition from another student for top grades in his class, but by the seventh grade he felt he had re-emerged at the top of his class.

At McKinley School the boys played marbles for keeps during recess. Since Paul considered that to be gambling he read through the encyclopedia instead. He became especially interested in airplanes at the time and read everything he could find about planes and flying. This was during the time when Lindenberg made his historic flight across the Atlantic in 1927. At home in his father’s shop, Paul built a model airplane to scale out of ¼” strips of wood following the diagrams in the library books.

During the time Paul was in the fourth through sixth grades he had regular access to a library truck. In addition to reading books on flying, Doctor Doolittle was one of the first sets of books Paul read. He became fascinated with the idea that people could talk to animals—a notion he eventually had to abandon. He also read all the Boy Pioneer series and Civil War books which gave an accurate account of history during that era and prepared him for history classes later.

Paul’s report cards often carried the notation that he was slow about getting his work turned in on time. This, he explained, was because he was so particular about his work and he would continually re-write it.

In the 7th grade Paul was at the head of his class. Twice a year the school superintendent gave a book to the top speller, and Paul was awarded the book A Tale of Two Cities and another book the second 20

semester. In the 8th grade Paul represented his school in the county spelling bee. He went down in the second round on the word “heretofore.” Paul didn’t know there was such a word, but he still graduated with the top spelling score in the county.

Animal Trapping—Paul helped his father trap animals for their furs when he was ten years old. The next year he began trapping on his own.

His first catch was a muskrat. Once he trapped a mink which brought him $25.00 which was quite a nice reward in that time for a youth.

Carpentry—Paul built a 12-foot boat out of lumber that had been sawed from trees cut down on the farm. He took the boat to Lake Manitou in Rochester to use it.

Rochester High School—Paul’s freshman year was the low point in school for him. The hazing of freshmen was rampant and two sophomore boys harassed him regularly on the way to the library. He almost failed Latin, but with help from his sister Edna, he brought it up the second semester. Following that first year Paul stayed near or at the top of the class.

Paul enjoyed geometry and physics classes. One time he came to a question on a test that he couldn’t answer so he wrote “Ask Webster” on his paper. The teacher said to him on the way out of class after returning the graded tests, “I hope common sense will prevent you from becoming a smart aleck.”

Paul was the only male student in his typing class. He finished in the top ten students in his class, an accomplishment he attributed to his accuracy rather than his speed. His school principal discouraged him from taking typing, as he considered it woman’s work. But Paul knew he would find it useful in college and later in life, and took the course anyway. He always considered it one of the most valuable courses he took.

Ministerial Study Course—Paul’s pastor who he referred to as “Stiney” encouraged him to begin a study course for ministers. Since he didn’t need to take a full load his senior year in high school to graduate, he took the course. He became Class Leader at church giving a sermonette every Thursday night.

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Paul’s father wanted him to become a minister. Paul had considered other careers such as veterinary medicine or civil engineering, and he always had a keen interest in flying.

During Paul’s first year at home after high school his father didn’t have him doing any farm work because he wanted him to continue studying for the ministry. He stayed home for two years before he had enough money to go to college. The second year his mother talked his father into giving Paul half the income from farming. Once enrolled, the college president influenced the treasurer to help keep Paul enrolled.

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College & Seminary

Indiana Central College—Paul attended Indiana Central College (later renamed University of Indianapolis), graduating in1939 with a BS in English and Chemistry. Lacking transportation, he hitch-hiked or walked home, getting home late. He made many meals on chocolate bars. Paul had to work to pay his way through school. The first semester of his freshman year he worked for the YMCA, but the second semester he caught the flu and had to return home. He struggled with an Organic Chemistry class and German in the same semester, but he aced his Sr. English class, which was easy for him, by completing the daily assignments in the restroom before class. During his third year in college he and his sister Florence served three churches as co-pastors.

Butler University was the ICC school rival. After winning a ball game against them, the students declared a holiday and all students cut class the next day. The President of the college did not approve and docked all students two credits. Paul made up the credits by taking a 5 hour physiology class during the summer and aced the class. It was taught by an Indiana University graduate student. That summer he stayed at the YMCA and worked as secretary in charge of registering students.

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Bonebrake Seminary—Paul graduated from Bonebrake Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, in 1943 with a Bachelor of Science in Religion. The seminary later merged with Evangelical School of Theology and took the name United Theological Seminary, and Paul’s degree was changed to Master of Science in Education. He was married to Pauline Marks when he attended Bonebrake, and he served West Elkton Church during his first year at Bonebrake. The remainder of his time at Bonebrake he served Maple Park Church. The picture to the left above was taken about 1923 when the building was first completed. The picture on the right was taken at the time Paul was a student.

As a student at Bonebrake Seminary, Paul was classified 4D for the military draft when WWII broke out. The classification 4D was used for pastors and criminals. Not being able to serve bothered Paul so much that he took a full time job at Wright Field during the war, in spite of objections by the faculty at Bonebrake. Paul was supervisor of a shift of under-clerk typists and accounting clerks for the Air Force.

Manchester College—Paul took courses from Manchester College in Manchester, Indiana to become certified to teach in public high school.

The Ducker family was living on the family farm in Rochester at the time.

Butler University and Indiana Central University—While teaching in Lapel, Indiana, Paul took non-degree graduate courses at Butler University and Indiana Central University, both in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Middle Tennessee State College—Paul graduated from Middle Tennessee State College (later renamed Middle Tennessee State University) in Murfreesboro, Tennessee on August 8, 1963, with a Master of Arts Degree. He majored in science and graduated with honors. Paul studied three summers in a row to earn this degree, an opportunity that was made possible through a grant from the National Science Foundation.

Kansas State University—In1964 Paul studied one more summer with the assistance of a grant from the National Science Foundation. He studied graduate courses in geology at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas.

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Pastorates and Early Work History Colburn Circuit— Paul and his sister Florence were co-pastors of the Colburn, Buck Creek and Ockley Churches located in the town of Ockley near Lafayette, Indiana. They were college students at Indiana Central College in Indianapolis at the time and commuted from school every Sunday to preach two sermons in the morning and one in the evening.

Paul would preach two sermons and Florence one sermon.

New Hope and Pleasant Hill Churches—Colfax, Indiana. Paul lived with a widow lady, Jennie Marks and two of her grown children, Richard and Pauline. He fell in love with Pauline and married her on July 21, 1940. Paul and Pauline left New Hope so Paul could attend Bonebrake Seminary in Dayton, Ohio.

West Elkton Church—West Elkton, Ohio. Paul served this church for the first year while studying at Bonebrake. Paul believes he was at this church when he first heard the news that Pearl Harbor had been attacked on December 7, 1941.

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Maple Park Church—Paul served Maple Park church in Middletown, Ohio the remainder of his time while studying at Bonebrake Seminary.

Bob and Goldie Gray invited Paul & Pauline to stay with them in their home on weekends so they would be near the church. Bob had a keen sense of humor which helped to make life interesting. Goldie was one of the delegates when Paul was assigned as pastor. Bertha Wagner, a crippled lady who was quite a comic asked Goldie after hearing Paul’s first sermon, “Was that the best you could do?”

One Sunday there was a baptism, but when it was time for the service, it was discovered that there was no water in the church for the baptism. They had to wait until someone could go next door to get water 26

so they could continue the service. After the service was over, Bob Gray met Paul at the door with a bathrobe in his hand and asked if Paul could get it dry cleaned for him.

(Many years later the Paul Ducker family with five half-grown children visited the Grays. They had purchased gifts for the children and when they saw how they underestimated how the ages of the children, they were very embarrassed. But the kids, caught up with the humor of the situation, found the cap guns quite amusing and had a ball playing with them anyway.)

Maple Park was quite an enjoyable pastorate for Paul and Pauline. Keith was born in Dayton, Ohio, while they were at Maple Park.

The picture on the left was taken in April 1943. The picture on the right was taken as Paul, Pauline and Bob and Lorena Hunt, another seminary couple squatted to pose through the church’s welcome sign.

Middletown was the home of the Aeronca Airplane factory. Paul never dreamed at the time that he would one day fly in his son’s Aeronca Champ.

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Ossian U. B. Charge—Paul served a three-circuit charge in and around Ossian, Indiana from 1944 to 1945. The churches included Ossian, Bethel & Hebron Community. While at this appointment Paul wrote elaborate church newsletters. He used an AB Dick duplicator with blue stencil sheets to print the newsletters.

Non-Pastorate Jobs—Paul wrestled with conflicting information between science and religion from his earliest days as a college student. Eventually they caused him to re-consider his choice of careers and he left the ministry for a time. Paul worked as a “grease monkey” at an airport on the north side of Ft. Wayne while considering a career change to aviation but he became discouraged.

Keith was about a year old when Paul took him to the airport and he begged so hard to fly that they gave in to take him for an airplane ride.

The pilot let Paul take the controls from the passenger seat and flying “got in his blood” at that time. The family had another opportunity to fly when a man brought a two-place Cessna to be worked on, and returned to Frankfort in another plane. Paul, Pauline and Keith flew to Frankfort with him and returned to Ft. Wayne by railroad.

Paul, Pauline and Keith moved to Clarks Hill in the late fall and lived with Pauline’s twin brother, wife and son, Paul and Ruth Marks and Melvin. They got jobs in Frankfort in an enamel factory. Paul was an inspector of tabletops.

A pastor in Frankfort asked Paul to preach a sermon for him one Sunday and then wrote to the Superintendent, insisting that Paul should be back in the ministry. He then filled in for various pastors around the area until he was given a full time appointment to a church in Bourbon, Indiana.

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Bourbon United Brethren Church (1946-48) Janice Elaine and Gary Lee were born while Paul was the pastor of Bourbon United Brethren Church in Bourbon, Indiana. Pauline’s mother also died while the family lived in Bourbon.

Glen Park Evangelical United Brethren Church (1948-53) Paul carried out a major construction project, adding an additional floor over what was initially a basement church in Glen Park, a suburb of Gary, Indiana.

Paul published a daily newsletter for Wawasee Lake EUB Campground using his AB Dick duplicating machine.

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Paul left the ministry in the summer of 1953 and returned to college so he could become certified to teach, though he took a temporary pastorate again in the late 1950s.

Ingalls Methodist Church (Part-time, late 1950s) Shortly after the Duckers moved to Lapel, Indiana, the pastor of the Ingalls Methodist church in nearby Ingalls, died. Paul was asked to fill the pulpit on a part-time basis until summer when new appointments would be made. He served this church approximately three years. He was paid $20.00 each Sunday after which the family enjoyed many “Sunday drives” and ate out in various restaurants.

It was at Ingalls Methodist church that the Ducker children learned what “cold” cake tasted like. Pauline had once jokingly made the comment that her children never knew what a cold cake tasted like, because they always ate it so soon after it had been baked. Mrs. Brown took up the challenge and brought the Ducker family a cold cake the following Sunday. Paul laughed and suggested that Pauline should have said she didn’t know what cold cash felt like!

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Marriage Paul met Pauline Marks when he began his pastorate at New Hope and Pleasant Hill Churches in Colfax, Indiana. Since he was single and the churches were small, he boarded with a widow lady and her grown son Richard and daughter Pauline.

It was not love at first sight, however. After a few days with the new border, Pauline asked her mother, “Mama, can I trade places with somebody? Every time I look at him all I can see is his big mouth with food going down it.”

At Christmas time the family bought Paul a much needed white shirt, and Paul gave Pauline a white scarf. That gift began to soften her heart. She wasn’t expecting a gift, and she began to consider that maybe he really did care.

With church and youth activities, there were plenty of opportunities for them to do things together, and their relationship grew.

Paul and Pauline were married on July 21, 1940 at New Hope Church. The “getaway car” was provided and driven by Bill Ramsey, a long-time neighbor of Pauline’s family.

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Left: Mothers-in-Law, Jennie Clemency Albright Marks and Jennie Lucinda Ford Ducker.

The house Pauline grew up in was also Paul and Pauline’s first home after they were married.

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Chivaree (AKA Belling) Local customs called for a “chivaree” or “belling” for newlyweds on their honeymoon night. This was a night of practical jokes. Normally the noisy mischief makers would bang on pots and pans outside the house until they found a way in. Then they would mess up the inside of the house and capture the honeymooners to make them do some crazy stunts. Since Paul and Pauline’s first home was with Pauline’s mother, they got off a little lighter on the messed up house, but they were captured in their underwear. Paul had to push Pauline around the Frankfort courthouse in a wheelbarrow. The pranksters also slip sheeted their bed and put rock salt in it.

Once during the time Paul lived in Jennie Marks’ home he caught a fox bare-handed by the back of the neck. The ditch that went around the edge of the property had been dredged out, and the dirt that had been removed was in piles beside the ditch. Pauline had seen the mother fox and had tried to shoot it but missed. They had seen the hole dug into the dirt mounds and suspected it was a fox den. Paul looked into the hole and seeing a half-grown fox, he took a chance and reached in catching it by the back of the neck. There was a reward for killing foxes at the time, so Paul turned in the tongue and was given five dollars.

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Pauline Marks Ducker

Pauline and her twin brother, Paul, were born on June 5, 1918. The first picture shows a family friend, watching over the two-week-old twins. The second picture shows Pauline’s grandmother, Maria Jane Albright holding baby Pauline, and grandfather, John Albright holding Paul. Parents Jennie (Albright) Marks and John Marks are standing behind them.

On the left is Pauline’s cradle roll card from the church nursery. The picture on the right was taken in Rossville, Ill where they were visiting the grandparents pictured above.

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Pauline’s family This picture was taken when Paul and Pauline were youths. Front row: Paul, Jenny Albright Marks, and Pauline.

Back row: Lucille, Richard, John, and Bernice.

High School Graduation Invitation/announcement, April 19, 1935

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Left: Twins, Paul and Pauline Marks, 1935 Right Back Row: Lucille, Pauline, Paul and Bernice Front: John, Jennie Albright Marks (mother), and Richard

Paul & Pauline Ducker

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Paul Marks & Pauline Their mother Jennie Albright Marks is seen in the background on the porch.

Paul & Pauline’s Family

Back row: Paul and Pauline Ducker. Front row, Janice, Joan, Gary, Paul Wayne, and Keith Birthdates: Keith William Ducker September 8, 1943 Janice Elaine Ducker December 21, 1946 Gary Lee Ducker May 10, 1948 Joan Eileen Ducker June 11, 1950 Paul Wayne Ducker March 20, 1952

Left: & center winter 1954-55

Right: Easter 1957 or ‘58 37

Visiting Keith at Ft. Knox Last Marks reunion before moving to Tennessee:

Back row: Keith Ducker, Melvin Marks, John Marks, Gary Ducker, Paul Wayne Ducker Middle row: Paul E. Ducker, Pauline Ducker, Ruth Marks, Paul Marks. Front row: Janice Ducker, Marcia Marks, Joan Ducker, Terri Marks, and Vicki Marks. (Summer 1965) 38

Back row: Jim Keyes, Bobby Keyes, Melvin Marks, Keith Ducker, Paul W. Ducker, Vicki Marks. Front of V.W. Glen Altum, Terri Marks, Barb Keyes, Joan Ducker, John Altum, Gary Ducker, John Marks, Rhonda Hite, Marcia Marks, June Altum, Janice Ducker. The red Volkswagen belonged to Keith. This picture was taken at the last reunion in the summer of 1965 before the Duckers moved to Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Back: Gary & Paul. Front: Joan & Janice. Murfreesboro about 1980.

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Gary, Indiana Back Row: Paul Mark’s children, Marcia, Johnny and Melvin Front Row: Janice, Gary and Keith sitting on the steps of the parsonage in Glenn Park (Gary, IN)

Joan and Janice in front of the parsonage wearing dresses Pauline sewed using scraps of cloth salvaged from a shirt factory

Keith’s new bicycle

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Rochester, Indiana

In 1953 Paul moved his family into the same house where he was born.

These marigolds were planted in the field across the road from the farm house.

Digging potatoes with the Minneapolis Molene tractor 41

Watermelon time! Gary (back), Paul (front), Joan and Janice were enjoying fresh picked watermelon after the harvest.

Hotcaps on the tomatoes: These tomato plants were purchased in Georgia before the last frost and planted under hotcaps made of paper to protect them from the frost. The family drove to Florida for a quick look before returning to Rochester.

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Gary picking a melon

Squash for sale alongside Highway 14 near Rochester 43

New cameras for Keith and Janice

Kid photos: Janice, Paul W., Gary, Joan, & Keith

Trick photography: Look at that apple Janice is holding!

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Brrrrr! Let’s wait until spring to sleep in the tent!

Paul is giving Gary (back) and Paul W. (front) a ride on the Farmall Cub Tractor.

Pauline is disking a field with the Farmall Cub Tractor. Notice the mower blade attached to the side of the tractor. Paul used this mower to mow the grass at the local drive-in theater. A side benefit was that the family could watch movies for free.

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The Duckers lived on the north farm. This picture was taken before the house was remodeled.

They also owned the south farm and rented it to the John Ogle family.

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CURIOUS WAYS TO ENJOY ON OLD HOUSE © 2003 by Janice Green

Our house in Rochester had been built by my grandfather in 1913 or shortly thereafter. The land had been in the family since 1835. My Daddy was born in the house.

The house was heated with a propane stove that sat in the middle of the living room, and above it and a little to one side was a register that, when opened, would allow heat to rise to the upstairs. We kids found another use for that register—we would fill it up with marbles while it was in the closed position. Then we would open the vent and rain a shower of marbles into the room below.

The other part of the house we enjoyed playing with was the stairs.

We would climb to the top step, sit down and “slide,” one bump after another, until we got to the bottom. Then back to the top for another ride.

We also had more than one “Slinky” toy that made many a trip down the stairs.

I am writing this at Joan’s house and it occurred to me that she had a nice straight stairway with smooth steps, so I had to try it out—for old time’s sake. It was still fun, but at my age I couldn’t do it with the reckless abandon that was ours when we were young. I had to brace myself for each step for fear I would lose control, and I quit halfway down.

I guess the nieces, nephews, and grandchildren will have to take over from here.

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Ducker Homeplace R h t

Rochester Collage

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Lapel, Indiana Paul Begins Teaching Career After completing his teaching certification while living in Rochester, Paul was hired as an English teacher at Lapel High School in 1956. He eventually taught English, General Science, Chemistry and Physics. He also sponsored the Science Club and directed two high school class plays.

Paul taught at Lapel High School for nine years.

Finding a House in Lapel The first school year began before the family was able to find a place to live, so the first three weeks of school the family was split and accommodated in two pastors’ homes in Lapel. Rev. Steedman’s family kept the boys two weeks and the girls one week while Rev. Grace’s family kept the girls two weeks and the boys one week.

A farm house was eventually rented northeast of Lapel where the family stayed about a year. The house had a swarm of bees in the outside wall, and there was a slat in the floor of the boys’ upstairs bedroom that could be lifted out allowing us to retrieve some of the honeycombs. There was also a windmill beside the house and a vegetable crop already growing in the field behind the house that we were invited to enjoy.

The Duckers later moved into town and rented a house on Central Avenue (which wasn’t centrally located but was the last street on the east side of town). This house (pictured above) had an enclosed front porch surrounded by windows and wooden venetian blinds. It also had a long & narrow enclosed back porch that doubled as a utility room.

The neighbors included the Bunnells, Richardsons, Stouts, Andersons, and Hackmans. At the far north end of the street lived the Edringtons. Mr. Edrington had tuberculosis and worked at home doing leather crafts.

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Some of the activities the Ducker children enjoyed were camping under a blanket-draped clothesline and wading in the back yard after a heavy rain.

Approximately two years later, the Duckers purchased a larger house on Woodrow Street that had been built as apartments, one upstairs and one downstairs. A family was living downstairs when the Duckers moved into the upstairs, but within a few months the renters moved because they didn’t want to live beneath all those kids. After the renters moved, the Duckers used the whole house. There was a very large living room in the upstairs apartment, so after polishing the hardwood floor the family had many neighborhood “Sock Hops” in that room. (Note: The picture above was taken several years after we moved. Little had changed—the air conditioner in the window and the grill were new.)

The house sat on an embankment on a corner lot with huge maple trees along both streets. There was a large front porch on the house and a two-car garage in back, with two storage rooms on the side. Across the alley lived the Jarretts. There were many neighborhood cookouts in the alley that separated the back yards. The neighbors’ names included Jarrett, Richardson, Woodward, Frick, Castor, Parker, Sears, Miss Rockey, Breece, Herron, and Lewis.

The car was seldom if ever parked in the garage, which made a good place for carpentry work. Paul made stilts with his table saw that were popular with the children, especially Janice who walked around the block on them many times. Keith and Gary built go-carts. Pauline hung many flowers and weeds to dry in the storage rooms on the end of the garage.

With the sale of the farm in Rochester, finances were freed up enough for a splurge--each of the children received a new bicycle.

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Pauline was actively improving her skills in flower and weed arranging and later turned the upstairs living room into a store to sell her hand-made arrangements and table centerpieces for a while. She created decorations for many church functions and wrote and self-published a book called Pauline’s Pretty Party Plans.

It didn’t take rocket science intelligence to figure out, that with a family of seven, money would go farther on vacations if they camped. So with the purchase of a new 12X12 tent, the family went on camping trips to Florida, Canada, and California as well as other weekend outings.

Keith took flying lessons at the Anderson airport and soloed on his 16th birthday. He purchased an Aeronca Champ airplane and later traded it in on a Mooney Mite.

The Duckers also camped on Center Hill Lake for two of the three summers that Paul studied at Middle Tennessee State College. The summer prior to camping at Center Hill, they tried camping at Cedars of Lebanon State Park which was closer to Murfreesboro. But the weather did not cooperate, and after it rained for 13 of the first 14 days out, they gave up and went back to Lapel. The second summer the family stayed 11 weeks at Center Hill Lake, and the third summer they stayed 7 weeks.

Paul purchased a motor boat for the family before the second summer at the lake. It is this writer’s opinion that the boat was the reason the family only stayed seven weeks the second summer. During the first summer all were content to do what they could find to do. But the second 51

summer, nothing was as important as riding in and skiing behind that boat.

Money was too tight to afford all the gasoline the children would have used boating. They became disenchanted and asked to return to Lapel early that summer. Pauline shed a few quiet tears as the family drove out of the campground to return home.

The Duckers discover SCUBA diving During the first summer at Center Hill Lake the Ducker family discovered SCUBA diving and it wasn’t long until all except Pauline took SCUBA lessons. Keith was first, and not only did he become a certified diver, he continued with more training to become a SCUBA instructor as well. Classes were held at the YMCA in Anderson, Indiana.

Keith, Gary, and Paul Wayne went SCUBA diving for many years.

Keith had several diving buddies including Ross Gresley from Anderson and Jim Love from Lapel. He went diving under the ice in the winter time with Ross and other friends. He also went to Florida with Jim Love where they reported that they hunted sharks while diving.

After moving to Murfreesboro, Gary and Paul continued SCUBA diving in the lakes around Tennessee. Gary eventually repeated the certification process and became instrumental in introducing many others to SCUBA diving and giving them much additional guidance and training.

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Lapel Collage

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Murfreesboro, Tennessee

The Duckers moved to 1402 Lakeshore Dr., Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in the summer of 1965 when Paul was hired as instructor at Middle Tennessee State College. He had never applied for this position, but had simply sent in a reference form for someone who was applying to enter the MTSC graduate school as a student. The Science Department wrote back and offered him a position. At that time he was teaching at Lapel High School, but he enthusiastically accepted. Keith and Janice lost no time in enrolling as students at MTSC, soon to become MTSU.

This rickety pier was in the back yard when the Duckers first moved to Lakeshore. A new pier was built that could be detached and pushed with poles around the lake.

The first year in Murfreesboro ended in tragedy and sorrow as Paul’s oldest son Keith was killed in a glider accident on September 3, 1966. He had been active in the MTSU Wesley Foundation and had been elected president. He and Paul were both active in the Mid-Tenn Flying Club at the Murfreesboro Airport as well. Following Keith’s death, Paul became active in the Wesley Foundation as a Faculty Sponsor.

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Music has always been a part of the Ducker family. Usually Pauline played the piano and other family members would sing along.

The picture on the left was probably taken a year or two after Keith’s plane crash or he would have been playing the trombone and Pauline playing the piano. Paul W. regularly played his guitar and sang with his friends who were developing their own band.

Pauline worked as a unit clerk at the Rutherford County Hospital for seventeen years until she retired.

Peter Lau came to MTSU as a student in1966 and began attending the Wesley Foundation within a week or two after Keith’s airplane accident. He later lived with Paul and Pauline when he earned his master’s degree in math. He has since become like family to the Duckers, so it is only appropriate that he be included here and again in the later family section of this book.

Janice graduated from MTSU in 1970 with a BS in Social Studies and moved to South Carolina to teach elementary school after working at the United Methodist Publishing house for ten months.

Joan studied at both Memphis State and MTSU and graduated from MTSU in 1973. During that time, she also made a trip to England 56

and later spent a few months living with Janice on Pawleys Island in South Carolina. After graduation she worked for Social Security for a while and then studied nursing.

Gary married Debby Sauls in 1967 and they had a daughter Leigh Ann. He took a few classes at MTSU and then started a business in which he manufactured stone for stone siding on homes in 1974. He worked at that for several years.

Paul Wayne married Sarah Elrod on September 18, 1971. They had a daughter Cindy on September 17, 1972. Paul went to MTSU for a semester or two and then worked in various jobs.

In 1979, planning for retirement, Paul and Pauline took their hobby with tropical fish and began a business raising several varieties of fish including angel fish, swordtails, black mollies, gouramis, and guppies.

They built a greenhouse to breed some of the fish and several large pools in the basement and outside the house. In addition to raising fish, they also raised exotic lily plants. The house, greenhouse, and spacious yard were a natural place for such a hobby turned to business.

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There were several articles in the Murfreesboro newspaper about the Ducker’s beautiful back yard as well as about their fish and water lily business.

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Paul retired from teaching at MTSU in May 1980, and in Jan 1981 Pauline retired from her work at the Murfreesboro Hospital.

In April 1982 Paul went to Dominica with a Methodist Volunteersin-Missions work team. This trip was the inspiration for Paul’s later efforts to improve the economy of that country by attempting to rally the Rutherford County community to find ways to enable the Dominicans to help themselves with financial assistance and special training.

In 1986 Todd Lake, the lake behind the Ducker home, was sold to a company that planned to drain it and to build a condominium on the property. Paul worked with the neighbors to fight their plans. They succeeded in stopping the condominium from being built but only after the lake had been drained for a couple of years. The land was eventually sold to another company that re-filled the lake, raised the water level to higher than the original level, and used it for skiing.

Paul has always been handy with woodworking. The gazebo on the left is a fine example of his creative carpentry work.

Not only did he design and build the gazebo, but he did it all including the fancy trim with a table saw.

The upkeep on the house and yard at 1402 Lakeshore Drive became more and more demanding in their retirement years, so in the spring of 2001 Paul and Pauline sold the house and moved into a condominium a few blocks away at Sanburn Hall. They already had many friends living there, and yard maintenance was taken care of by the Sanburn employees, so it was a perfect choice for them. Paul finished writing his book while at Sanburn and Pauline has been able to continue her painting and other hobbies.

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Murfreesboro Collage

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Family Vacations In 1949 a very young Ducker family went on a trip west to visit seminary friends in Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska. The trip also included Pike’s Peak in Colorado and strip coal mines. These captions were taken from Pauline’s notes on the backs of the pictures.

Cut-away for the train between Liberal & Kismet about 2 miles northeast of the bridge. Places were cut 60 feet deep. July 24, 1949

Pikes Peak taken from Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, July 26, 1949

Strip coal mining in Illinois, August 2, 1949 61

Clyde’s Cabin on the Tippecanoe River was a favorite vacation spot when the family was very young. Clyde Berkeypile who owned the cabin was a family friend from the church in Bourbon, Indiana.

The Duckers took a quick trip to Georgia in 1955 to purchase tomato plants to grow an early crop. They drove on to Florida before returning to Rochester. Then they stayed up all night to set out the plants and cover them with hot caps.

Florida, 1959: Paul and Pauline purchased a 12X12 foot tent with a floor and took the family on a camping trip to Florida. They drove their new ‘59 Chevy station wagon as far as the everglades where they camped 62

and took an airboat ride. The mosquitoes were so terrible that a planned “hike” was quickly terminated as they gave up on mosquito spray and returned to the tent, quickly zipping it up. The Duckers visited Dorothy and Mac McMurray near Tampa Bay where they went crabbing. The method was to walk in human chains and pass the nets (like butterfly nets on long poles) to the person who saw the crab. The Duckers also visited Edna Leach. The most exciting event of the trip was when the children caught a shark bare-handed. Read on… >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Shark Adventure © 2002 by Janice Green Mom and Dad had only left us on the beach alone for a short time. How could they have ever guessed what adventures we would find to get into?

My family went on a camping trip to Florida in the summer of 1960. One afternoon Mom and Dad left us on the beach alone for a short time while they walked farther ahead looking for seashells. We were to stay on the beach or only wade in the shallow water, which sounded safe and simple enough.

They just hadn’t counted on the shark coming along.

Keith, who was the oldest, spotted it first. It was small as sharks go, and Keith decided he could catch it if we all helped to scare it up into the shallow water. All five of us Indiana kids joined in the adventure as we ran and splashed chasing the baby shark. “I’ve got it!” Keith’s voice was exuberant, but he didn’t hang on to the shark’s tail very long as it began twisting back and snapping at him.

“That shark has a mouth full of teeth,” he gasped, revealing his sixteen years of wisdom. “It could bite my fingers off!” But Keith still didn’t give up easily; instead he came up with another plan. The chase was on again, and this time my 11-year old brother, Gary, caught the shark by the tail. Keith was quickly along side of him with a swim fin holding the shark’s head down to try and prevent it from biting anyone.

They dragged the shark a few steps closer to the beach when Gary’s fear and adrenalin kicked in and he hurled it with all his might up onto the sand.

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We decided to try to keep the shark alive by digging a hole deep enough so it would fill up with water. Still we had to keep enough sand between the hole and the ocean to keep the shark from swimming away.

We found that, no matter how hard we tried, we just couldn’t dig the hole big enough or keep enough water on our baby shark. We continually scooped out sand, but more sand took its place as the water seeped in. We tried pouring water over the shark, though it became more and more obvious that we probably would not be able to keep our baby shark alive.

When Mom and Dad returned, they were dumbstruck over what we had done. Mama shuddered to think that where there was a baby shark, there might also be a mama shark. We hadn’t considered that.

But what was done was done, and now all there was to do was to decide what to do with the dying shark. We took a picture of Keith holding it to keep as evidence of our shark adventure. Gary never forgave Dad for not including him in the picture, after all he was the one who had caught it the last time, and that was the time that counted.

Dad, a high school science teacher, looked up sharks in the books he had brought along on our trip and determined that we had caught a blue shark. Not having a yardstick available to measure with, we estimated the shark to be about 25 inches long.

Dad had been collecting a number of specimens of sea life and pickling them in formaldehyde to take back to his science class in Indiana.

He wished that he could find a way to preserve the shark, but concluded it would not be possible to find a large enough container.

Joan, who was nine at the time, remembers that we were still hoping to find a way to pickle the shark until a raccoon found it and ate half of it. So there was nothing to do but to dispose of it in a trash container at the campground where we were staying. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Wisconsin Dells, Michigan and Canada 1960 The Duckers took a trip around Lake Michigan that included a boat tour of the Wisconsin Dells, after which the family drove through the northern part of Michigan, Sault Ste. Marie in Canada, camped about a week at Camp Ohio in Canada, and returned home through the part of Michigan that is east of Lake Michigan.

Trip West in 1964 In the summer of 1964 the Duckers (all except Keith who had begun basic training in the Army Reserves) traveled in the ‘59 Chevy 64

station wagon on Route 66 to the Pacific Ocean. Route 66 took them through Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and ended at Los Angeles, California. In Arizona they took a side trip to the Grand Canyon. They also stopped at a huge crater where they saw an airplane that had crashed into the bottom, and they watched the rescue that was already in progress.

From Los Angeles they first went south for a brief visit to Tijuana, Mexico, where they purchased a large ceramic donkey which got broken before the family made it home. Following the Tijuana visit they drove north along the Pacific coast to Monterey, California, and then through the Sequoia National Park before going on to San Francisco where Paul’s sister, Florence, and his mother lived. In San Francisco the Duckers rode on a trolley car and ate at a restaurant in China Town.

The return trip took the family through Nevada and Salt Lake City, Utah. On the way down out of the mountains, traveling in the direction of Utah, Paul discovered that the car was almost out of gas, so he began cutting the engine off at the top of each decline and letting it coast downhill as long as possible, throwing it back in gear whenever they got to the bottom so the engine would automatically start again. This continued for many miles until the gas ran out. Then they drained the white gasoline from the camp stove and continued on. Another traveler also came to the rescue with a little gasoline out of a can before they finally reached a station where they could fill up the gas tank again. This episode has been remembered as the time when they drove “50 miles on one gallon of gas.”

After touring Salt Lake City, the family was becoming travel weary and eager to get home, so they drove late into the night one night and then stayed in a motel instead of camping. That night they drove across Utah where they went through miles and miles that were overrun 65

with jackrabbits that apparently stayed around the blacktop roads to keep warm at night. There were so many jackrabbits that it was impossible to avoid hitting them while driving. The family tried to get a count of how many they saw in one mile but lost count somewhere in the 20s.

The remainder of the trip was less eventful as the Duckers became more interested in getting home than in sight-seeing.

Other Camping Trips The Duckers went on other weekend camping trips closer to home when they lived in Indiana. Often these camping trips included the Paul Marks family. Favorite campgrounds included Bass Lake and Turkey Run State Park.

Dauphin Island Several years after moving to Murfreesboro, the family members who were still at home at the time took a trip to Dauphin Island in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Alabama. Paul and Pauline flew down in one of the Mid-Tenn Flying Club airplanes while Paul Wayne, Joan and her fiancée Darrel (who she didn’t marry) drove down expecting to meet Paul and Pauline at a small airport. Weather conditions prevented the small plane from flying into the intended airport, so they landed at another airport and attempted to call to let someone know that they wouldn’t be able to fly in that night. As it turned out, the airport was unmanned, with an out-door phone on a pole. Joan and Darrel heard it ring and answered it. The next day everyone went deep-sea fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. Pauline caught a shark but the man on the fishing boat (accidentally?) let it get away. He attempted to tie a rope around its tail before throwing it overboard, but the shark quickly swam free.

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Collage of Family Vacations

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Later Trips for Paul & Pauline After all the children had left the nest, Paul and Pauline took many trips of their own. These included a trip to Alaska with Robert and Pat Turner as part of an RV traveling group with two other couples. They also went to England with a tour group that was headed up by Rev. Richard Shriver.

They took a trip to Hawaii and continued to Hong Kong to see Peter Lau and his family. While in Hong Kong they took a risky one day tour into Communist China.

They took trips to visit Paul’s sister Florence in Ormond Beach, Florida, with side trips to visit Janice in South Carolina. They also took trips to visit friends and relatives in Indiana and to attend various class reunions.

They made several trips to Dominica, an Island in the Caribbean.

Their first trip was part of a short term mission trip sponsored by the Methodist Church to do some work there, but later trips were part of a project Paul initiated to encourage the residents of Rutherford County (Murfreesboro) to “adopt” Dominica and help them to pull themselves out of poverty.

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The many varied interests of Paul Ducker Flying When Paul Ducker had an interest in anything he did something about it. He became interested in flying at an early age and though this interest had to be placed on a back burner for a while, it eventually became a passion. Not only did he get his pilot’s license and become active in the Mid-Tenn Flying Club, he began to build his own airplane in the basement. Unfortunately, he was forced to abandon this dream when the doctor “grounded” him from flying due to a heart condition. He had hoped to fly around the world in it with Pauline.

Writing: Science, History and Religion In seminary, Paul’s head was filled with new ideas and he began dreaming of one day writing a book. His book, Science, History and Religion was published in 2000.

Geology Paul has always loved science. He earned his Master of Arts Degree in science at Middle Tennessee State College (now University) on August 8, 1963, graduating with honors. In the summer of 1964 he studied geology at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. Rock Hunting was a serious hobby for Paul and many family outings were spent looking for fossils and rock formations.

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Snoopy and His Sopwith Camel Peanuts has always been one of Paul’s favorite cartoon strips and the sight of Snoopy on top of his doghouse turned out to be a source of real inspiration for him. Flying kites had been a family tradition in Rochester, and Paul had even helped to make kites for the family with sticks, string, and newspaper. The two loves, when combined in Paul’s imagination, produced a box-kite shaped like Snoopy’s red doghouse, AKA the Sopwith Camel, with Snoopy riding on top, scarf flying in the wind, searching the skies for the Red Barron.

Paul made the kite and took it on a successful test flight. He tried to find a way to sell his idea to a toy-making factory. Writing to Charles Schultz first, he learned that only Mattel and one other toy company had exclusive rights to any and all Snoopy products. Neither company was willing to produce the kites. All who saw the kite felt it was a grand idea, however, and Mattel will never know their loss in passing up what could have been a fantastic kite craze.

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Dominica Paul has always had a passion for helping the poor, especially in the “third world” countries. As a seminary student he had dreamed of becoming a missionary to Africa, but health concerns prevented this from happening. In the early 1970s Paul envisioned a plan through which he believed poverty could be eliminated in all third world countries. His vision was to match each third world country with an area of the United States that was similar in size and encourage the citizens of the American “sister” area to adopt the third world country and help it develop the means to overcome its poverty.

Paul then selected the Caribbean island of Dominica and encouraged the people of Rutherford County in Tennessee to work with the people there. He made many trips to Dominica and raised funds to send several containers full of supplies and equipment to Dominica as he initiated an agricultural program there. His plan was to improve the diets of the cattle, which could in turn provide more milk and meat to improve the diets of the Dominican people. The project never reached the heights Paul had envisioned, but he did make a difference, at least for a time.

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Long Term Friends of Paul and Pauline

The Duckers met Chester and Sarah Baker while living in Gary and doing some Evangelical United Brethren Church planting in Winamac, Indiana. They have continued to keep their friendship alive over the years. This picture was taken in Murfreesboro on March 9, 1968.

This is a picture of Reuben & Dorothy (Ratlif) Smith taken on their wedding day. Paul performed the ceremony. Reuben was one of Paul’s college roommates. Reuben provided Paul & Pauline his car for their get-away car when they were married only a few months earlier.

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Gail & Alee Clark came to MTSU shortly after the Duckers moved to Murfreesboro. Gail was on the faculty in the Science department and he was also a pilot in the Mid-Tenn Flying Club. Alee also got her pilot’s license but they did not fly in later years. This snapshot was taken in 1972 at Janice’s trailer in Pawley’s Island, SC. Bob & Lorena Hunt were from Kansas and came to Bonebrake Seminary a year after Paul and Pauline. They didn’t have a car at the time so Paul and Pauline planned special outings with them. Bob died at an early age. Lorena spent many years as a writer. She still lives in Kansas where she has taken up painting.

Calvin & Donna Jean Grosvenor were members of the Bourbon church Paul served. They had a daughter named Janice who was about 6 years old and was bed-ridden with polio at the time. Since she was no longer under quarantine, Pauline would take her daughter Janice to cheer the girl up. After the Duckers moved to the farm, Donna Jean and Calvin purchased five acres of land off the corner of the north farm and built a home with a huge modern chicken house. Calvin died not many years later.

Clarice Moore and Maxine Zerbe are sisters who grew up one quarter mile from the Ducker’s farm in Rochester. Clarice, who never married, worked for a lawyer in South Bend for many years. Maxine also worked in South Bend. Paul and his sister Florence were a few years younger than Clarice and Maxine, but they remained friends keeping contact throughout their lives.

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Descendents of Paul E. Ducker Keith William Ducker

Keith was born to Paul Emmerson Ducker and Pauline Marks Ducker on September 8, 1943. The Duckers were living in Dayton, Ohio, at the time.

Keith went to school at Riley School in Glenn Park (Gary), Indiana, from kindergarten through the 4th grade. He went to 5th grade at the newly built Pitman Square School which was in walking distance from the parsonage.

The family moved to Rochester, Indiana, to the farm that was the Ducker/Biddle home place since the land was first settled in approximately 1835. Keith attended the 5th-7th grades at Woodrow School, a four room school house on highway 31 near Rochester, Indiana. Keith was in the Cub Scouts and went to Scout camp at least once during the time he lived in Rochester.

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The family then moved to Lapel, Indiana, where Keith attended Lapel High School from the 8th grade through graduation. Keith was active in the band and played the trombone. He also sang in the High School Chorus, the church choir, and an all men’s Jubilee Chorus in Lapel. He was also active in the Boy Scouts in Lapel.

Keith had a newspaper route for the Indianapolis Star shortly after the family moved to Lapel. Later he purchased a motorcycle and began commuting to work part time at the smaller airport in Anderson.

Keith’s life passion was to become a pilot. He began building model airplanes with small engines at a very young age and flew them in much of his spare time. He began taking pilot lessons in July of 1959 at the age of 15 and soloed on his 16th birthday. He went on to earn the flight instructor license. He had logged around 1200 hours of flying time before his death at age 23. Pictured above are the airplanes Keith owned.

His first plane was the yellow and maroon Aeronca Champ which he later traded for the Mooney Mite. In the lower picture taken in Anderson Indiana shows Keith standing beside his flying and SCUBA buddy, Ross Gresley.

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Keith worked for Delco Remy after graduating from high school.

He also joined the National Guard and completed boot camp at Fort Knox, Kentucky.

The family moved to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in the summer of 1965. Keith continued his college education at Middle Tennessee State University. He was active in the Wesley Foundation and was elected president at the beginning of the second semester. Keith met an untimely death on September 3, 1966. He had been giving flight instruction in a glider at the time of the crash.

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Janice Elaine Ducker Morris Green

Janice was born in the hospital in Plymouth, Indiana, on December 21, 1946. The Duckers were living in Bourbon, Indiana, at the time and Keith was three years old.

Janice went to school at Riley School in Glenn Park (Gary), Indiana, for kindergarten, and Pitman Square School for the first grade.

The newly built Pitman Square School was in walking distance from the parsonage.

The Duckers moved to Rochester, Indiana, to the farm that was the Ducker/Biddle home place since the land was first settled in approximately 1835. Janice attended the 2nd through 4th grades at Woodrow School, a four room school house on highway 31 near Rochester, Indiana.

The Ducker family then moved to Lapel, Indiana, where Janice attended Lapel School from the 5th grade through graduation in May 1964. She sang in the High School Chorus and the church choir. She was involved in the Girl Scouts from the 6th grade through the 9th grade. She was active in the Science Club in Jr. High and High School.

Janice had several short term jobs in Lapel beginning with transplanting strawberries for Riley Davis for thirty-five cents an hour.

She inventoried the dime store one year for one or two weeks. After 77

graduation she was hired at Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis, Indiana, as a Clerk Typist II. The family moved to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in the summer of 1965. Janice began her college education at Middle Tennessee State University where she graduated with a BS in Sociology with minors in Psychology and Home Economics. She was very active in the Wesley Foundation, having held several offices. She was also instrumental in starting both a sociology club and another organization called CUBE (Creating Understanding By Effort) which attempted to improve relations between the black and white students at the time. Janice sang in the Treble Chorale during her freshman year and in the Mixed Chorus beginning the second semester of her Sophomore Year.

Janice worked at Camp Dogwood north of Nashville during the summers of 1968-1969. This was a camp for the Methodist Community Centers in Nashville, Tennessee. She also interned at Tennessee Technical University in the Wesley Foundation for one semester in the fall of 1969. She was considering a career in Wesley Foundation work.

From January through October of 1970 Janice was employed by the Methodist Publishing House while she completed her BS degree part time through UT Nashville. In the late fall of 1970 she found a second grade teaching position in Pageland, SC, through an ad in the Nashville Tennessean. She applied and was offered the position by telephone. She did not enjoy teaching and decided not to ask for a contract the following year. But in the fall of 1971with no other employment in sight and car and school loans coming due, she found another teaching position teaching 5th grade in Georgetown, where she also lived at Pawley’s Island. She still did not enjoy teaching and hoped to find other employment. Janice struggled through two more years of teaching following the same pattern finding jobs at the end of the summer. She took a contract in Cheraw in 1972 and in Bennettsville in 1973.

In the fall of 1974 Janice broke the teaching cycle by getting a job with American Health Profiles where she worked as part of a team that gave physical examinations on a van that traveled all over the United States. She worked until her birthday the same year. Then she moved back to South Carolina where she became engaged and married James Terry (Ted) Morris of Cheraw, SC, on February 15, 1975. Melissa Joan (Joni) was born on September 4, 1976.

Janice began studying library science in 1986 at University of South Carolina. In the fall of 1987 Janice began work as a library media specialist at Bennettsville Elementary School. She graduated from USC in 78

1989 with a Master’s in Library Science Degree and continued to work at BES until 1995.

Janice and Joni went on a 21 day trip to Europe in 1990. They traveled on the Euro-Rail and visited Germany, The Netherlands, France, Switzerland, and Austria.

Joni graduated from Cheraw High School in 1994 and married Alfred Huff on November 26 the same year. Alfred served in the Army for the first four years of their marriage spending most of his tour at Ft. Hood in Texas. They have three children. Jonathan was born November 4, 1998, Wesley was born July 27, 2000, and Erica was born November 5, 2002. They live near Manassas, VA where Alfred works in communications with National Security.

Ted and Janice first separated in 1989 and eventually divorced in 1994. Janice met and married David Leigh Green of Hemingway, SC, where she joined him as a professional beekeeper for four years. Dave and Janice provided pollination services and packed and sold honey all over the state of South Carolina and beyond. They also were awarded the Forgotten Pollinator Award in 1997 which afforded them an all expense trip to Tucson, AZ, to the week long Invertebrates in Captivity Conference and made it possible for them to visit Joni and Alfred where they were stationed in Killeen, TX. Janice returned to work in the SC public school system as Library Media Specialist at Battery Park Elementary School in 1999.

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Gary Lee Ducker

Gary was born on May 10, 1948, in Bremen Hospital. The Duckers were living in Bourbon, Indiana, at the time. Keith was 5 years old and Janice was 1 1/2 years old.

The family lived in Glenn Park (suburb of Gary, Indiana) for five years and then moved to Rochester, Indiana, to the farm that was the Ducker/Biddle home place since the land was first settled in approximately 1835. Gary attended the first and second grades at Woodrow School, a four room school house on highway 31 near Rochester, Indiana.

The Duckers then moved to Lapel, Indiana, where Gary attended Lapel School from the 3rd grade through his Junior year of high school. Gary ran track and cross country during his high school years. Gary enjoyed SCUBA diving beginning in high school and continued diving most of his life. He also enjoyed rabbit hunting as a youth, and later he hunted deer. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Boa Constrictor StoryMurfreesboro For Christmas, of 1969, Paul Wayne, who was still in high school, surprised Gary, with a boa constrictor. Ralph, as the boa was named, became a big hit in the family 80

as each eventually got up the courage to hold him.

Ralph was put into the bathtub with a mouse with the expectation that the mouse would become Ralph's dinner. The mouse ran all around Ralph, and even nibbled at him every now and then, but the boa seemed totally disinterested. The onlookers left the scene with the last person closing the door thinking that would keep Ralph in the bathroom. NOT! The boa disappeared.

Five months later Mama spotted the head of a snake peering out over the insulation in the basement. She called for Gary to catch it and he hurried to oblige, reaching for it and then having second thoughts. “What if it isn't Ralph?” he asked himself. Then betting on the odds, he reached up and pulled—inhale—YES! It WAS Ralph!—long exhale. And he pulled him the rest of the way out from the insulation and put him back into his cage. The neighbors’ sighs of relief could almost be heard as word got around that Ralph had been caught. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Gary graduated from Murfreesboro High School in May of 1966.

He married Debbie Ann Sauls. They had a daughter, Leigh Ann. They later divorced.

In 1974 Gary became a self-employed stone mason. He manufactured stone siding for homes for several years. He then worked in 1981 & 82 on off-shore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.

Gary purchased five and a half acres of land on the edge of Murfreesboro, and upon returning from the Gulf he built his own stone house.

Leigh Ann Woodall’s family Five Generations Back row: Gary Ducker, Leigh Ann Woodall, Megan and Julia Marie Warren. Front Row: Pauline and Paul Ducker.

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Joan Eileen Ducker Bentley

Joan was born on June 11, 1950. She had a sister, Janice age 3 1/2 and two older brothers, Keith age 6 1/2 and Gary age 2. At that time the Ducker family lived in Glenn Park, a suburb of Gary, Indiana.

The Ducker family moved to Rochester, Indiana, to the farm that was the Ducker/Biddle home place since the land was first settled in approximately 1835.

The Duckers then moved to Lapel, Indiana, where Joan attended Lapel School from the first grade through her freshman year of high school. She played the saxophone in the band beginning in the sixth grade and played in the High School Band in the ninth grade. She enjoyed the Girl Scouts in the 6th and 7th grade. Joan was active in the Science Club and the Astronomy Club in Jr. High. She enjoyed watching basketball and cheering for the Lapel Bulldogs.

The family moved to Murfreesboro in 1965. Joan continued playing the saxophone in the High School Band through her sophomore year. She worked most of the summer months and after school at various jobs and began buying her own clothes and saving for college. Joan graduated from Murfreesboro High School in May of 1968.

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She continued her education at MTSU for three semesters and then transferred to Memphis State for four semesters. Joan worked as a waitress and in a Department store to pay her college tuition and expenses. She enjoyed leather craft, making candles, macramé, and needlework in her spare time. She returned to MTSU and graduated in 1973, but not before taking time off to spend a few months with Janice at Pauley’s Island, SC, where she worked as a waitress. She also stayed with a family in England through an exchange program, and toured Europe for a summer.

Joan’s first employment after graduation was with the State of Tennessee. She enjoyed working for the Department of Conservation in Nashville for a year. She hiked and traveled around the state during this period. She accepted a job with the Social Security Administration in 1975 and was transferred to Tullahoma, TN. While in Tullahoma she met her husband, H. Thomas Bentley and they were married on September 17, 1977. They continue to live in Tullahoma.

They have two sons. Thomas Mark was born on July 17, 1980, and Jonathan Stewart was born on December 20, 1985. Tom has two daughters, Dianna Paige and Sarah Elisa, from a previous marriage.

Joan has established her own home-based business designing houses and additions for houses and is very successful with it. She is currently active in two quilting guilds, a poetry group, Highland Yacht Club, Tennessee Trails Association, and First Christian Church. Her hobbies include quilting, poetry, reading, hiking, sewing doll clothes, and growing roses. She still has an interest in conservation and the preserving the environment.

She and Tom also enjoy sailboating, traveling, church activities and watching their granddaughter.

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Mark Bentley

Jonathan Bentley

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> TERRI REMEMBERS HER TWIN COUSIN—JOAN

By Terri (Marks) Schocke Some of the fondest memories I have with Joan are the ones when both families went camping together. Joan and I had met a young man from Indianapolis at Raccoon Lake. I believe he may have had a motor boat and water skis.. but can’t remember the facts for sure. All I do remember was that we found him to be so very good looking, who cared about boats and skis. I remember we sort of met him at the beach or maybe the canteen, I think his name was John. After meeting him we ran into him a lot that week. Today, they call it “stalking”. When we found out he did a lot of water skiing, we always arranged to go out in the boat when he was skiing.

Another memory also included boys. When the Ducker family lived on a lake all summer the Marks family joined them for a week. The Marks and Ducker gals stayed in a tent. There was a young couple who danced to the “oldies” .. which were new at the time. I believe Marcia, Janice, Joan, Vicki and I all had our heads outside the tent watching them.

The young man also had a younger brother, who Joan and I were sort of 84

interested in. Anyhow.. there we were watching them, longing to be a part of the evening and the music. The next thing I remember there’s something tickling my nose. Sleepily, I wave it away. It comes back. Finally I open my eyes and there’s John and Gary tickling my nose with a feather. It was morning, I look around and there I was... head still out of the tent!

Everyone else had gone inside to sleep and left me where I lay!

I remember always looking forward to trips to Lapel. I couldn’t wait to see Joan and meet her girlfriends, so we could talk about boys!

Oh Boy! You’d think we were boy crazy or something... to have all my fondest memories of Joan be about her and some boy! Although they are faint memories, they are sweet memories. Joan was always so very kind and sweet and very intelligent.

My best memory, however, was my most recent memory. Joan went out of her way to locate me at Opryland Hotel a couple of years ago.

She took me to a great Italian restaurant to eat lunch, and we “window shopped” at some of the finest Antique stores in Nashville. We chatted and helped each other remember the old “boy stories” and laughed. We talked of family and other relatives, like Bobby Keyes. Hmm... somehow I forgot to mention the Marks reunion when we learned we both had a crush on this good-looking second cousin of ours! Anyway, in Nashville, we actually had stimulating adult conversations that did not include checking out the boys. We laughed about those times, but seriously talked about the present and our adult lifestyles and needs. Funny, how a relationship built on family ties and vacations, helps to build long-lasting, good friendship ties that seem to grow stronger with time. I treasure the moments spent with Joan all those years ago and many times have wished that the miles were shorter between our homes today. That visit to Nashville helped me to see Joan differently as a well accomplished woman, not just someone to compete with for a young man’s smile. The Ducker family has always been a second family to the Marks kids, but my “twin-cousin” Joan, is, and will always be, my friend.

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Paul Wayne Ducker Paul Wayne was born on March 20, 1952.

He had two older brothers, Keith age 8 1/2 and Gary age 4, and two sisters, Janice age 5 1/2 and Joan age 2. At that time the Ducker family lived in Glenn Park, a suburb of Gary, Indiana.

The Ducker family moved to Rochester Indiana to the farm that was the Ducker/Biddle home place since the land was first settled in approximately 1835.

Since Paul Wayne was the youngest in the family the funny things that happened when he was very young are still remembered by his older brothers and sisters. When Janice began writing family stories, “Paul Wayne Stories” were some of the first to be written. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Paul Wayne Stories Paul Wayne’s Early Vocabulary Lessons—Paul Wayne, as he was called until we moved to Tennessee where his teachers broke the trend, was the baby of the family. Someone once said that during those early toddler years he seemed more like a puppy for us to play with.

We had fun playing a “vocabulary/parts of the body” game with him by asking him questions, one after another. “Where is your nose?”

“Where are your eyes?” “Where is your elbow?” And so it went until we had exhausted all the body parts we could think of—but one. The grand finale was always, “Where does Daddy spank you?” and Paul Wayne would grin, turn around, and pat himself on the behind.

Paul Wayne’s Cowboy Hat—Finances were tight on the farm, so Daddy was always finding various techniques for the selection of gifts to assure that our gifts would be something we really wanted. This year he took us all to a toy store to look around and tell him what we liked. For those who still believed in Santa, the explanation was that Daddy would let Santa know what we wanted. Then when we weren’t watching, Daddy would signal to the store clerk to let her know so she could slip it out for him to buy.

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I don’t remember what everyone received that year, but I do remember Paul Wayne’s gift. He fell in love with a cowboy hat. He tried it on and looked so proud in it, and then he had to put it back and look around the store at other toys. But when the lady came to slip out with the hat, Paul Wayne saw her and wailed, “She took my hat!” He cried all the way home not having a clue that the hat was in the trunk and that it would be under the Christmas tree come Christmas Eve. Paul Wayne’s Big Spanking—Dad had been doing some major remodeling to the old farmhouse and out in front was a large stack of bags of plaster for finishing the walls. Dry wall had not yet come into use. We had been told not to play around the bags, but that day they looked so tempting and several of us decided to climb to the top. Of course we were caught in the act, and since there were several of us involved, Daddy said he would start the paddling with the oldest. Paul Wayne watched knowing that soon it would be his turn when suddenly he got the inspiration to run.

He took off around the side of the house, ran across the large back yard, past the barn, and was halfway across the field before Daddy caught up with him. Daddy didn’t have to run to catch up as Paul Wayne was only two, maybe three. But once Daddy caught him, Paul Wayne’s paddling began. He got one swat for every step of the way back to the house. It was a paddling he never forgot, and to the best of my knowledge, it was the last time he ever tried running to get out of a paddling. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The Duckers moved to Lapel, Indiana, where Paul first went to Mrs. Sears’ kindergarten class in her home on Woodward Street. He then attended Lapel School from the first grade through the seventh grade. Paul always loved music and was good at it. When he was in the sixth grade he played Santa Claus in the school Christmas play and sang several solos.

Paul attended Hobgood Elementary in the eighth grade in Murfreesboro, Tennessee and then Central High School where he graduated in May of 1970. When Paul was in high school he began playing in regional rock & roll/country/blues bands, and has continued to do so most of his life.

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Paul married Sarah Elrod on September 17, 1971. Cindy Leigh Ducker was born on September 17, 1972. They lived in a trailer on Murfreesboro Street, Murfreesboro. Paul and Sarah divorced in 1979.

Paul worked various jobs and played in bands until 1984 when he started installing kitchen cabinets.

Paul moved to St. Croix Island in the Virgin Islands in 1990 to help with rebuilding after Hurricane Hugo. He lived there until 1996 when he moved to Bristol, Tennessee. Paul has continued to install kitchen cabinets in Bristol.

Paul started Picker’s Paradise, a flea market musical instrument store in 2001. He keeps the store open on weekends at Tri-Cities Flea Market.

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Cindy Leigh Ducker Brindley Cindy married Rickey Brad (Tiny) Brindley on August 9, 2003.

They live in Lascassas, Tennessee. Cindy graduated from MTSU in 1996 and later took extra classes to become certified as a teacher. She began teaching the second semester of the 2004-05 school year. She is currently working at State Farm Insurance in Murfreesboro. Cindy follows in the footsteps of Grandmother Pauline Ducker in that she enjoys sewing and crafts, especially cross-stitch.

Maryann Katherine (Katie) was born to Tiny and Cindy on April 12, 2006.

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Peter Lau Man Ting

Peter Lau was unofficially adopted into the Ducker family in the early 70s when he lived with Paul and Pauline while he worked on his Master’s Degree in math. He is grateful to Paul and Pauline for providing a much needed home environment and believes that it was their down to earth Christian outlook towards life that inspired him to seek work in areas in health, arts, and education overseas.

Then he moved back to Hong Kong in 1975 where he later married Charissa and had a daughter Karyn.

In 1980, Paul and Pauline visited Peter and his family in Hong Kong and were introduced to “life in the Orient”.

The above picture was taken in 1988 when Peter re-visited United States. Shortly after, they moved to Toronto, Canada.

Peter also has a Master’s degree in Music from Ball State University, and later worked with racially integrated children while teaching junior high school math in Cheraw, South Carolina.

He is now working with students with learning difficulties (ADD); giving music lessons; and indulging in martial arts for the refinement of body and spirit. Peter says he will always credit Paul Ducker for demonstrating, by example, the way to care for others.

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Paul’s 90th Birthday Celebration

Pauline, Joan Ducker Bentley, Paul, Janice Ducker Green at refreshment table for Paul’s 90th Birthday

Pauline and Paul at home on Paul’s 90th birthday

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Birthday celebration schedule as printed in invitations:

Birthday Celebrations Paul is struggling with all the things 90-year-olds struggle with so we are trying to spread out the celebration to keep it from being too overwhelming for him or for Pauline.

Family Dinner for the immediate family only will be on Saturday at 12:00 noon on June 18, 2005.

Drop-ins are welcome during the following times: 2:00-5:00 p.m. Sunday, June 19 All day Monday, June 20 Telephone calls are welcome anytime.

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Wesley Foundation Gathering A last minute effort was made to contact as many former Wesley Foundation members as possible for a get-together on Saturday, June 25.

The picture below was taken at the gathering.

Front row: Gary Ducker, Ann Sherrill Moore, Pauline Ducker, Paul Ducker, Vic and Carol McCauley. Back row: Jerry and ID Box, Gary Brodioi, and Janice Green.

Front row: Gary Ducker, Ann Sherrill Moore Reedy, Pauline Ducker, Paul Ducker, Vic and Carol McCauley.

Back row: Idella (I.D.) Bradley Box, Jerry Box, Gary Brodioi, and Janice Ducker Green.

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90th Birthday Quilt for Paul Joan planned and created a quilt to celebrate Paul’s 90th birthday.

Pauline and Janice helped a lot, but Joan was the master-mind behind the project. Many friends and relatives contributed pictures and messages printed on quilt squares.

Front of 90th Birthday Quilt: Family pictures and messages.

Back of Quilt: Messages from Friends 94

Lessons My Father Taught Me

By Janice Ducker Green I remember Daddy once taking me out to the car so we could have a heart to heart talk. “Life is like a mirror,” he told me. “If you laugh with the world, the world will laugh with you,” and he went on to explain that what you get from others is a reflection of what you give. He also talked to me about the value of working and making a contribution in life.

Most of what my father has taught me has been by way of example, however. My father, Paul Emmerson Ducker, has been a man of principal as long as I have known him. It was never good enough to just believe in something, it has always been important to stand for something.

And that is what he has done. He has devoted many years of his life to improving the quality of life in Dominica, a very poor island in the Caribbean. His life ambition has been to write a book about evolution and the Bible. In 2002 his book, Science, History and Religion was published.

Dad was an honest man who wouldn’t purposefully take advantage of anyone. Nor would he settle for any less in his children. Lying was never tolerated in our home. If we were caught doing something dishonest, it was mandated that we were to go to the person who was wronged, make a full confession, and pay for the damages. I know that my own conscience for honesty was shaped at an early age making it nearly impossible for me to tell even the smallest of lies. My former principal once complimented me saying that I had more integrity than anyone he had ever known, even when it was to my own disadvantage.

My father was willing to be tedious with details so that the end product, whatever the project was, would come out right. He designed our floating dock with precision and had accurately predicted how high it would set in the water on the Styrofoam floats that held it up. When he was building his airplane, he was meticulous with details—nothing was to be left to chance. I have picked up my father’s love for writing, where that preoccupation with details has served me well. I have written a few children’s stories and books of my own, and have only recently found an avenue to get them published.

Daddy knew how to stick up for himself. I remember the time when he bought a battery for his car that did not measure up to his expectations. He contacted the dealer who refused to make it right. But not to be outdone, Dad wrote a letter to the manufacturer. He let them 95

know that he planned to polish up the brand name of the battery and put it in the science lab at school. Of course, he would also let all the young high school drivers or drivers-to-be know why the battery was in the science lab and not in his car. We had a new battery for our car in short order. Daddy’s determination to be treated fairly has been an encouragement to me to stand up for myself when wronged in several situations.

According to a co-worker in a summer camp, who was also one of Dad’s former students, I had picked up a certain pride in my step that the co-worker had also observed in my father. It was an intriguing idea, and as I thought about it, I realized he was probably right. Dad was rightfully proud of his accomplishments in life and he encouraged his children to reach high as we set our own goals in life. My father has given me so many reasons to be proud of him, and I pray that he can say the same for me. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Paul Ducker died January 12, 2006 before this book was completed, though he proudly held and proof-read the first published draft copy from his hospital bed.

We miss you, Daddy.

Love, Janice 96