To Duke’s mother, brother, his girls, nephews and cousins all of whom he spoke of often and lovingly - I couldn’t be there in person from Oklahoma, but was thankful to have the service online to hear the parts of Duke’s life unfamiliar to me and to see the great pictures/memories. We go back to him sitting behind me in Coach Cannon’s American History class in 10th grade and always enjoyed catching up at reunions since I had left Longview before he returned.
We had forged a renewed friendship thanks to Facebook and Messenger over the years. We came to realize at different times we had so many things in common to talk/advise each other on. He spoke so lovingly of his ladies (the guys, too) and was happy to tell of your latest adventures/accomplishments along with Sammy (was so cool to hear how Sammy became Duke’s sidekick) and the new grandson.
I will miss his larger than life self and the talks on numerous topics we were going to have, so can’t imagine the void y’all feel. My thoughts and prayers are with you all. He loved you all so dearly😇