Duncan, Robert, 1920-2011

Robert Duncan (1920-2011) was born in Normal, Illinois. He later attended the University of Alaska and Wesleyan University, graduating in 1942. He served in the United States Merchant Marine and Naval Air Force from 1942-1945. He then worked in the placer gold fields of Alaska, with a seed corn company in Illinois, and with a bank in Chicago.In 1948 he earned a a law degree from the University of Michigan and soon afterward moved his family to Oregon.

Duncan was nominated as a write-in candidate for the Oregon state legislature in 1954, but declined for business reasons. He was later elected in 1956 to the Oregon House of Representatives and served until 1962, becoming Speaker of the House for four of those years. He was then elected as a Democrat to the US House (1963-1967). He ran unsuccessfully for US Senate in 1968 and 1972. He was again elected as a Democrat to the US House (1975-1981). He then worked as a lawyer in Portland, for the Northwest Power Planning Council, 1984-1988, and served as chairman in 1987.

He married Marijane Dill in 1942 and together they had seven children. Marijane died in 1989 and Duncan later married Kathryn Boe. Duncan died on April 29, 2011.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress: http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=D000537

From the guide to the Robert Blackford Duncan papers, 1957-1980, (Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries)