Paul Duckett is my father. He passed away sometime in November of 2008. He was found in a field outside of fort dodge. They were unable to determine the cause of death. I miss him more and more every day. I hope to have his obituary and some pictures posted soon. If anyone has any story or pictures I would love to hear them, I can also pay for any costs to provide me a copy of any pictures you may have. If anyone would like any pictures I have I'm more than willing to make copies.
I was saddened to read of Paul's death in the newspaper. I hadn't seen him since our 10 year class reunion. I had been a classmate of Pauls since elementary school.
I recently came accross the Mother's Day recipe book that our second grade class made for our mothers. Each one of us was required to bring our favorite recipe to school and then the teacher copied them. Next, the teacher had us put all the recipes together into books and decorate the covers. I looked up what Paul submitted for his favorite recipe it was for a salad. (If you would like a copy of the recipe I could e-mail it to you, just let me know.)
An interesting thing you might not know about Paul is that from 5th-8th grade he played violin in the school orchestra. Paul had a natural gift for playing violin, so whatever song we were given he played it with ease. It was a sad day for our violin section when Paul decided to quit orchestra, because he was 1st chair. I always thought with his talent as a violin player he could have went far as a musician.
I didn't have Paul in any of my classes again until 10th grade drivers education. During the classroom portion, I remember the day the teacher had us wait in the hallway as he had placed automotive parts around the room on various tables. The teacher then had us pick partners. Once we had partners,we were to go inside together and write down the name of each of the various parts as a team. I asked Paul to be my partner.(He was so good at automative stuff, and I was not.)I am very glad Paul said "Yes" to being my partner, because we passed that test thanks to his knowledge.
Our paths did not cross much after that, but if they did he always spoke to me. I will always remember Paul as a talented, friendly, helpful guy. I'm sad that he is no longer with us!
I too was shocked and very sad to hear that Paul had passed away. I lived two houses away from Paul in Coalville when we were kids, through grade school, junior high and into high school. Paul and I did many things together. Lots of fishing, hunting and general goofing around. There were many times we'd walk to the river or to a creek near out house to fish. We also had many great times hunting in the woods, clay pits and quarries near our houses.
I remember one particular time that scared us both. The creek that we frequently fished and was normally wading depth was much deeper due to recent rains. Paul took one step into the creek and the water was over his head. I was lucky to be right next to him and grabbed his hand as he came back up. We gave up on the fishing the rest of that day and found a new respect for high water. That was just one of many, many adventures we had growing up.
Paul was extremely smart in school and I remember he always had a much easier time at math than I did. No matter what the subject was, he always excelled. He was kind enough to help me now and then when I struggled.
Unfortunately, we saw less and less of each other as we grew up, our paths leading in different directions. I'll always have many fond memories of Paul and our childhood pursuits. I know that he had some difficult times, I hope Paul found some peace near the end of his days.
If I can locate anything from my childhood that references Paul, I'll gladly get it to you.
