Wilfred (Duke) Duclos

9/8/1926 — 3/10/2020

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Wilfred Joseph “Duke” Duclos, 93, passed away of natural causes on Tuesday, March 10, 2020, at Prestige Care Center in Lewiston.

He was born Sept. 8, 1926, to Johannas Mathias “Matt” Duclos and Rose Fiedler Duclos in Cottonwood, and was the third of six children.

Duke graduated from St. Gertrude’s Academy. He served in the Merchant Marines in WWII from 1945 to 1947. In 1949, Duke met the love of his life, Helen Elizabeth Uhlenkott, at a Lewiston Grange Hall dance. They married six months later in 1950 during a snowstorm. They raised seven children together.

From 1953-60, Duke was a police officer and private investigator in Lewiston. He served our country in the Marines during 1948 and served in the Korean War from 1951-52. Duke worked as the Nez Perce County coroner from 1961-71 and was then appointed County Commissioner by Gov. Cecil Andrus in 1971 and served for seven years.

Duke was a strong, hardworking person and an entrepreneur. He started several of his own companies in the 1970s, working alongside his eldest son, Don, at both Central Security and Alarms, as well as Security Maintenance, offering seal coating, road and parking lot striping. After retiring, Don continued to operate the businesses. Duke was a pioneer in the mobile phone business in the region surrounding Lewiston. He owned the Lewiston Answering Service which included Motorola mobile phones. He had the first cell tower in Lewiston attached to his home.

Duke was a member of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church for 63 years and All Saints Church in Lewiston. He enjoyed serving by reading Scripture and as an enthusiastic member of the choir with his deep bass voice. Duke was a family man and an avid fisherman. He loved to take his family boating, water skiing, fishing, camping and especially huckleberry picking. He also thinned apples and worked for a beekeeper. Duke’s devotion to his wife, Helen, was evident every day of their 63 years of marriage before her passing in 2013.

He is preceded in death by his parents; siblings, Gertrude “Val”, Raymond “Ray”, La Gretta “Gretta”, John and Joseph; and his granddaughter, Sophie.

Duke is survived by his children, Renee (Ren) Ferguson of Belgrade, Mont., Don Duclos of Clarkston, Penny (Dennis) Large of Auburn, Wash., Kim (Brian) Derryberry of West Linn, Ore., Sue Snyder of Nampa, Chris (Robert) Fazio of Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., and Kurt (Grace) Duclos of Kenmore, Wash.; grandchildren Lee, Matt, Star, Robin, Timothy, Natalie, Virginia, Jennifer, Stephanie, Kayla, Joshua, Elissa, Jessica, Nicole, Kyle, RJ, Rachel, Olivia, Arianna; and great-grandchildren Michael, Jaxon, Madison, Sydney, Maia, Jimmy, Anna, Ren, Ellina, Cordilia, Liam, Keira, Orion, Marlee, Victoria, Joslyn, Bryce, Connor, Gavin and Ella.

A funeral Mass will be held at All Saints Catholic Church, 3330 14th St., Lewiston, at a later date.

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