SOUTH PARIS — Duncan E. Slade passed away on June 10, in South Paris. A well-known painter and artist, Duncan’s endless energy and enthusiasm have been an inspiration to many. His theme song was Frank Sinatra’s, “I Did It My Way.”

He was born in Atlanta, Ga., April 3, 1918. Duncan’s father was a Congregational minister who soon moved the family to Kansas then to the South side of Chicago, where they served the poor during the “Great Depression.” Duncan graduated from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn., and four months before Pearl Harbor he entered the U.S. Marine Corps, reaching the rank of major. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism as a pilot in the South Pacific, flying supplies to Guadalcanal and Bougainville and flying out the wounded.

After the war, Duncan worked for 25 years at Uniroyal in Naugatuck, Conn., then found his true calling as an art teacher, the vocation that eventually brought him to Oxford Hills Jr. High, where he taught from 1974 to 1983, inspiring many students and earning a teacher of the year award.

Duncan is survived by four children, Rachel Boyle (Sean), Duncan W. Slade (Gayle Fraas), Diane Slade and Donny Slade-Cohen; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

He was predeceased by a son, Eliot Slade.

A special thank-you to the friends who have helped Duncan live as independently as possible in these last years, you know who you are … “more to come.”


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