Edmund Duyck

Edmund Harold Duyck left us on May 8, 2021.  He (and his twin brother Edwin) was born January 1, 1930, to Emil and Anne Marie (Hillecke) Duyck, on the family farm on Mountaindale Road in Banks, Oregon as the second of 8 children.
As a youngster, he began school at the Harrison Road one-room schoolhouse for 2 years, then completed elementary school at St. Francis of Assisi in Roy. At age 12 he worked horses to put hay in the barn and drove his own team to drive a dump hay rake. At 14 he drove a 4 horse team to harrow the ground after the grain was drilled. He graduated from Banks High School in 1948.
Edmund was a charter member of Banks FFA and raised Ayrshire heifers for his project. Playing football and baseball on the high school teams, afterwards he then walked 5 miles home to work on the family farm where he and his brothers helped milk 80 head of cows, until he was 22, when the world opened up to him.
In 1952 at age 22 he was drafted into the Korean war and deployed to Germany in the occupation force where he became reacquainted with distant relatives on his Army leaves. Unlike most soldiers he knew, Edmund saved his money for trips and was quite a traveler, visiting many of the famous sites of Europe. In future years he and his wife returned to Germany several times to visit relatives he met during his time there. He returned from active duty in October 1954, staying in the national guard for 6 more years.
On November 20, 1954, he married Gertrude Hertel, a local girl he had known through grade and high school. They settled on a farm in Hillsboro where they raised row crops, especially sweet corn, with grain, hay and dairy cows in addition to 10 children, 4 boys and 6 girls.
He became active in the Washington County Farm Bureau in 1960 and St. Matthew's Church Parish Council in 1965  (the year the new church was built) as chairman of the Maintenance Committee. Farm Bureau became his passion with a focus as chairman of the Membership Committee.  During his tenure, county membership increased from 350 to 900 during the 1970's, and he gained a record of 51 new members in one year, winning the prize of an all expense paid trip to attend the American Farm Bureau Convention in Hawaii for himself and Gertrude. He held various state and county level Board office positions for over 50 years, with 7 terms as Chairman of the Washington County Farm Bureau and 6 years on the State Wheat Advisory Board for Farm Bureau, as well as several other state level committees. He reluctantly resigned from Farm Bureau at age 90.
During his life he was an active hunter and fisherman, inviting his children and later grandchildren with him many times.  For him, it was a way to not only see if he could outwit the critters, but fill the freezer too.  Checkers was his game of choice, and in his late years, he complained that he couldn't find enough competition because he always won. He was a lifetime member of NRA and American Legion.
He is preceded in death by his wife Gertrude, daughter Alice Stadelman,  and son Tony. He is survived by his children Brigetta & Hector (Martell), Sr. Mary Peter, Will and Barbi, Andy and Patty, Son-in-law Lyle Stadelman, Martha and Ron (Vanderzanden), Barbara and Matthew (Wade), Carol and BJ (Funk), Greg and Karen, 55 grandchildren, and 73 great-grandchildren.
Donations can be made in his memory to Our Lady of Peace Retreat House, St. Francis Catholic School and Visitation Catholic School fund.
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