Jimmy Ray Duke

On Thursday, June 30, 2022 our loving father and friend Jimmy Ray Duke passed away at age 91. He was born October 11, 1930 to Guy and Gladys Lindsay Duke in Heber City, Utah. Jim grew up spending time outdoors. He and his family spent many hours fishing, hunting and picnicking all over the valley. They had cows, chickens, sheep and a couple of horses. Each year they had a big garden, and all the kids had chores: cows to milk, sheep to take to the pasture then back home at night and weeding the garden. Busy as all that was, Jim had plenty of time to roam the North Fields, fish, and hunt with his brothers and friends, then sit on the front porch with family in the evenings and enjoy music and singing coming from all around their close-knit neighborhood.
He married Patricia Marie Leahy on July 28, 1951 and they were happily married for 70 years. He was drafted into the Korean War in the late summer of that year. When he finished his army duties they moved home and settled in Heber for the rest of their lives. They raised two daughters Peggy and Deana in a home filled with love, laughter, hard work, and being outside.
Jim loved Heber Valley more than just about anyone on the planet. He loved the mountains, fields, wildflowers and streams every year of his life and spent many hours sharing and teaching that love of home with family and friends. With a gentle hand and quiet tone, he taught a lot of fly fishermen and pheasant hunters to attend to and appreciate the natural world and its beauty. He wasn’t above letting a few fish go in order to pick some wildflowers for his much-loved mother or his wife and best friend Pat. He was a thoughtful friend and liked everyone. He was careful with people and liked things to be neat, tidy, and organized. Jim was a hard worker and hated sitting around. He liked to keep busy and always had a project going.
Early on in his life he discovered the world of trap shooting and enjoyed the sport into his nineties. He helped start the Heber Valley Gun Club and he and Pat, along with many friends, spent time working and improving the Club and making many new friends along the way. He often said, “Trap shooters are good people.” It opened opportunities for him to travel, meet new people and places and build his skills. He was inducted into the American Trapshooting Association Hall of Fame, and was often a winner in his humble, unassuming way.
Jim loved family and never quite got over losing his mother and dad and his brother, Bob. He missed his mother’s calm and constant love and his dad’s embellished storytelling and all the fishing trips they took together. Bob was ever his best outdoor buddy and always a prankster. Jim missed them always. He loved to remember stories of growing up, family adventures, and the good times in Heber. He is an amazing father and husband and loves his grandchildren and great grandchildren with his whole heart.
Jim is celebrating a joyous reunion with his wife, and trusted partner in life Pat Duke; beloved parents, Guy and Gladys Duke; sisters Lois Fox, Dawna Probst, and Glenna Moulton; brothers Archie and Maurice Briggs, and Bob Duke; grandchildren Leesa Woody and Shea Stone; and a bunch of good friends, cousins, and nieces and nephews.
He is survived by his daughters and their spouses Peggy and Dave Stone and Deana and Fred Woody. His grandchildren Jeremy and Bonnie Stone and Lindsay and Gary Bezzant, Brittany and Richard Trimble, and Jayme and Emma Woody. His great grandchildren Scottie Stone; Kyson, Maleea, and Jaylee Trimble; Ava, Lila, Maia, and Matthias Stone; Weston, Isaac, Andrea, Miles, Kate, and Asher Bezzant; and many nieces, nephews, friends, and family members too numerous to list, but not forgotten.
A viewing will be held on Thursday, July 7, 2022 at the Heber Fifth Ward, 325 East 500 North in Heber from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. and a Memorial Service at that same location on Friday, July 8 at 11:00 with a viewing prior from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.
Interment will be at the Heber City Cemetery.
To stream the services, please visit https://webcast.funeralvue.com/events/viewer/75681/hash:004C8E025B78C305