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| Stuart
Duncan |
| Dear
Trevor, I have some sad
news to report I'm afraid - apologies if
you have already heard.
I
believe you have recently been in touch
with Stuart Duncan but I don’t know
if he mentioned that he was terminally
ill. I'm not certain of Stuart's dates at
Prescot, but I think he was in the upper
sixth in 1972, the year I joined. With
such an age difference(!) I don’t
remember Stuart from my school days, but
I recently re-discovered him at his
cousin's birthday party when we spent a
very pleasant evening reminiscing about
PGS and the staff.
Unfortunately
earlier this year, Stuart was diagnosed
with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis and
despite initial hopes for a lung
transplant, his health declined so
rapidly that a transplant became no
longer viable. Stuart died in Willow
Brook Hospice on Saturday morning, he was
54.
Stuart’s
immediate family put their all into
nursing him, maintaining round the clock
care for him in the last couple of weeks,
with help from friends who travelled from
the UK, San Francisco and Brisbane just
to help - clearly he made a lasting
impression on the people he met.
I would
also like to take the opportunity to
mention and thank Willow Brook Hospice
for their care and support, though words
fail me to describe their contribution.
Willow Brook is a good place.
The
funeral will be at 2pm, Tuesday 20th
October at St Helens Crematorium..
With
very best wishes,
Damien
Walker
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We would appreciate any
memories that you may have of Stuart
Duncan Conact
Us
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My
thoughts are with Stuart's family and
close friends. I can remember him from my
days at PGS and he was a very likeable
lad. [Robert Neil]
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Sad to
hear the news about Stuart, even though I
had never met. Regarding Willowbrook, I
am a past president of The Rotary Club of
Prescot and on the 7th November this year
we will be holding our annual Bonfire and
Ariel Firework display at Whitakers
Garden Centre in Prescot. Profits from
the event are to be split between
Willowbrook and Zoe's Place. Are you able
to give the event a mention on the
website? Tickets are available from my
office. [Mark Salmon]
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This is
sad news. Stuart and I were quite close
friends at PGS, altho' we lost contact
afterwards. I was sorry that Stuart was
not among those who were around at the
time of the flurry of reunions about 8 or
10 years ago now. Damian has Stuart's
dates correct. He was the year ahead of
me, so he started in '66 and did A levels
in the summer of '73. He was same year as
John Parkinson, Andrew Rigby, Ade Ceasar,
Peter "Bill" Ball, Phil Welsby,
Alan Jolleys et all. His father died
while he was at PGS, quite early on in
the second or third year I think, and as
far as I remember he was an only child -
or did he have an older sister? Can't
remember. He lived at Crank with his mum
- Dora (?). We were keen Saints
supporters and a bunch of us - Alan
Crickmore and a few others would stand at
the on the terrace at the far end,
usually not far from Fred Webster and
Bill "Sparky" Watts. He did a
maths degree at Royal Holloway London,
and then if memory serves he spent some
time at Baton Rouge university in
Louisiana. Our paths diverged somewhat
after that and we were never in contact
again, and now its too late . . . Count
blessings. [Peter Chadwick]
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| I was
saddened today to hear of the passing of
Stuart Duncan, another of the Great
Intake of '66. That first morning, just
five weeks after England won the World
Cup, Billy Gray led 1 Kappa along to our
form room, and I found myself sat next to
S. Duncan, from the amusingly named
village of Crank, near Rainford. Ahead of
him sat D. Duncan. Two boys with the same
surname caused a little confusion, so
much so for one master that he thought
Stuart's name was Duncaness, a nick name
that stuck for some time. Stuart was an
enthusiastic, if not extremely talented
fullback, and entered the trials for the
school football team. When the squad went
up on the noticeboard, there it was,
"Duncan", and somehow, Stuart
convinced Dave Duncan – rudely known
as Jug thanks to his ears – that he,
Stuart, was the selected Duncan. It took
Dave – an very talented goalkeeper,
striker and cross country runner, despite
his 10-a-day habit – until the
following year to make the school team,
as he was overlooked by an inept Monty
(Geography) for the rest of the year.
Under Jimmy Dewsnip, order was restored.
During
his time at PGS, Stuart ran a team in his
home village, called Rainford North End.
Any of you who know Rainford will know
that the north end of the town is very
close to the south end of time, so I can
only assume that Stuart had some affinity
with Preston North End... Anyway, the
team I played for trundled out there a
couple of times to play them over the
year's, Stu in his role as
organiser/manager/captain/fullback.
I recall
Stuart as one of the nice guys of our
year, and it sounds like he continued in
that role for his whole life. Fifty four
is far too soon to go, another reality
– and mortality – check for all
of us. Bye Stu, all the best. Wouldn't be
surprised if he was organising a team up
there right now... [Paul Gerrard]
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