By Ron Hayes BRINY BREEZES — When the Japanese attacked Pearl
Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, Matthew Duncan immediately quit his job at
the Buick plant in Flint, Mich., and joined the Marines. He was 20
then, and embarking on a lifetime of service to his country,
community and friends, including 16 years on the Briny Breezes Town
Council. Mr. Duncan died Sept. 9, eight months after being
diagnosed with cancer, and two days before his 63rd wedding
anniversary. He was 88. “He didn’t have spare time,” remembers his
wife, Louise. “He always worked around the park, or on the council,
and in a lot of organizations up home.” Born Dec. 23, 1920, in
Flint, Mr. Duncan served as a gunnery sergeant on Iwo Jima, Saipan
and Tinian during some of the fiercest fighting in the Pacific.
After the war, he joined the Flint Fire Department, working
24-hours on duty and 54 off, and ran the Matt Duncan Insurance
Agency in between. He was a 32nd degree Mason, a past chief of the
Clan MacKenzie Scottish Rites, and a founding member and past
president of the Springs Meadows Country Club in Linden, Mich. The
Duncans first came to Briny Breezes in 1975 and became permanent
residents in the mid-1980s. In 1991, Mr. Duncan was elected to the
Town Council and served as its president from 1999 to 2007, when he
declined to run for re-election. “He was a very fair person, that’s
the first thing,” remembers Rita Taylor, who served with Mr.
Duncan. “And always willing to assist. When they first put in our
interior cable TV network, he acted as an unofficial handyman.
Anybody who had a problem, he was the go-to guy.” To his friends
and neighbors, he was the friendly fellow who rode around town in a
golf cart with his Shih Tzu, Lucky, forever at his side. “He was
nice guy, and a handy guy,” recalled his friend, Bob Kraft. “If you
wanted something fixed, you could count on Matt.” In addition to
his wife, Mr. Duncan is survived by two sons, Jeffrey, of Briny
Breezes, and Bruce, of Flint; three granddaughters, Stacey Goforth
of Virginia Beach, Va.; Stephanie Gerold of Wilmington, N.C.; and
Bonnie Duncan of Flint; a grandson, Bradley Duncan, of Grayling,
Mich.; and five great-grandchildren. Mr. Duncan was cremated, with
plans for a memorial service at a later date. Donations in his
memory may be made to Hospice of the Palm Beaches, Teal Team, 5300
East Ave., West Palm Beach, FL 33407, or the American Cancer
Society.
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