Obituary
MATTHEW DUNCAN
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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