Fulton Duwaine Townsen

Born in Adamsville, TX, the son of Otto Noel and Bertha (Scott) Townsen, predeceased by three older brothers Velon Noel, Waiian Scott, Houston Dwight and one sister Wilda Lejuan.

As a young man, Duwaine worked hard farming with his parents in Tahoka, TX where he met the love of his life Joy Juanelle Corley. Duwaine and Joy married in their home on November 8, 1952.

A Korean War veteran, Duwaine faithfully served his country as a communication specialist at the 51st Fighter-Interceptor Wing Headquarters in Seoul. Upon his return, Duwaine and Joy moved to San Diego, where he graduated from San Diego State University with a Degree in Accounting.

Duwaine’s career spans more than 50 years in San Diego, he worked with over 100 emerging companies, specializing in biotech and healthcare. He was a CPA, former CEO/Chairman of Kay Laboratories, Inc., and General Partner of six venture funds. Duwaine served on the Board of Directors for eleven publicly held companies, eight in San Diego, including Agouron Pharmaceuticals, Brooktree Corporation, Cymer, Maxim Pharmaceuticals, and Infrasonics. He has also served on the Board of Directors of fourteen private companies, most of them in San Diego. Duwaine was the creator of San Diego’s first water park in Chula Vista. He received many awards including 2003 Director of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award and San Diego State University 1994 Alumni of the Year Award.

Duwaine never met a stranger, he was generous, kind to all, saw good in everyone, a loyal friend, a loving husband, amazing father and grandfather. He was devoutly Christian, and it was his faith that guided him throughout his life. Duwaine love to ride horses with his family and friends. He was an avid fisherman and loved to cook and work in his orchard. Duwaine traveled the world with his wife and family and truly thought he had a blessed life.

Duwaine and his wife, Joy, of 57 years resided in Descanso, CA. He is survived by his daughters, Donna Gail Lazos and Lori Juanelle Hernandez, five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Services will be held on November 20th at 1 pm at Glen Abbey Memorial Park in San Diego.

www.glenabbeysandiego.com

Personal Biography

Duwaine was born on May 9, 1933, when the family lived on a small farm near Adamsville, Texas called the “Sand Patch.” He was the fifth child born to Noel Otto and Bertha Townsen. He had three older brothers and a sister that died of diphtheria disease before he was born. His brothers were Velon Noel, Waiian Scott, and Huston Dwight, and his sister was Wilda Lejuan Townsen.

His earliest memory of the “Sand Patch” was living in the little rock house that had only three rooms plus a screened-in porch. His Mother and Daddy slept in the one bedroom inside, and all the boys slept on the porch. When he was about three years old, he started to sleep with the “big boys” on the porch and thought he was really getting big. The farm had about 40 acres of cotton land, 4-5 acres of peach orchard and maybe 10 acres of sugarcane in addition to a large family garden. In the fall of the year when the family was picking cotton, his mother would make him stay on a quilt under the cotton wagon and play or sleep. He used to go with his brothers to a hand dug water well in the yard and draw water in a large bucket for Mother’s use in the house. The family also had to draw enough water for the horses and other livestock and fill a large trough that would last all day. The well was about 25 feet deep, and 3 feet across and is still there today. After they cut the sugar, his father would make syrup. To do this, they had a mill that squeezed the juice from the sugar cane and was powered by a horse. Many times Duwaine would ride the horse to turn the mill and talk to his brothers. He also helped his mother by feeding the chickens and turkey along with gathering the eggs.

He talked a lot when he was young. Velon was always very quiet and reserved. When everyone else was laughing, Velon would just smile, and he did not talk unless it was necessary. Duwaine recalled when he lived on the Sand Patch that Velon told Mother he would do all of her work if she would just keep Duwaine away from him because he just asked too many questions and talked all the time. Another time when the family was in Oklahoma City, the general manager of the Counts told Mother that Duwaine was a natural born defense lawyer and she should never try to change him.

In 1938 times were really bad, no money, few jobs, and not much rain. Duwaine's Father was told about a job opening with a company called, The Alamo Plaza Hotel Courts. The company had 10 Courts located in 7 states through the South. Mr. Torrance, the owner, was looking to hire a sign painter that would travel from one location to the next, take down all the signs advertising the Courts from all incoming highways, repaint and re-letter the signs and re-install them on the highways. This round trip to all the courts would take almost a year, and he wanted it done each year. Duwaine didn’t remember very much about the year that his Father and Waiian traveled except that his Father was very good to write to his Mother and him. Duwaine remembers his Mother reading some of his Father’s letter to him saying he would be home soon. When it was time for his Father and Waiian to go back on the road for the second year, the family decided that Bertha and Duwaine would go with them. So, on the road, they went for almost two years.

The Alamo Plaza Hotel Courts in Oklahoma City was very close to downtown, and the city bus came by every 20 minutes. One day Duwaine asked Mother if I could go to town and ride the elevators in the high building. She was not very much in favor of this so she asked Otto and he said Duwaine could go if he would only stay in town one hour during the middle of the day. The city bus that went downtown only cost a nickel to ride, so about once a week Duwaine would go to town and walk around and ride every elevator he could find.

In 1940, his mother received a family inheritance and used her money to buy a farm in Tahoka, TX. His father started building a new house on the farm that was much larger than the house that already existed. He also built barns, chicken houses, corrals, hog barns and pens, dug the water well, put up a windmill to pump water, put in a water distribution system to the house and the barns and put up fencing for the milk cows. After the new house was completed, his mother planted trees, put in a beautiful grass yard with flowers and then landscaped the driveway coming up to the house. They did all of this while farming the 80-acre farm, mostly in cotton, corn and feed the animals. It was a very busy time, and they all worked very hard. After a couple of years of hard work, they had a very beautiful farm, ranch, and home.

When it was time for Duwaine to start school he was enrolled at Dixie, a small one-room schoolhouse. Almost all students rode horses to school or walked. The school had a small barn where they would keep their horses inside. At recess, they would run horse races, practice roping and play other games on the horses. Duwaine became more acquainted with Joy as well as her brothers and had met O.B. who became his best friend. His family knew Joy's family before he started school together, they were neighbors. Joy was almost four years old when they first met and played together as kids.

After school during the week, weekend and the summer there was much work to be done since both families were ranchers and farmers. O.B.‘s and Duwaine’s fathers would let them work together for a few days at each place. O.B. and Duwaine started driving tractors at the age of 9, and their fathers would pay them a dollar per day when working in the field with the tractors. However, no pay for doing their regular chores such as; milking morning and night, feeding the stock, hoeing the cotton in the field, hauling “bundles“ from the field, making haystacks of winter feed for the stock, butchering hogs and calves in the fall for meat for the family.

In Texas, at that time a young boy or girl could get their driver license at age 14 since many of them had to drive to town for supplies or haul cotton or feed to market. In the fall of 1947 Duwaine’s mother and father wanted to visit Waiian and Hazel in San Diego. Duwaine’s father had a 1939 four-door Dodge that he thought would make the trip. They ask if O.B. and Duwaine would drive them out to San Diego. O.B. and Duwaine were excited about the trip since they had never been to California. They made the trip just fine with the old car, and Duwaine remembers they stopped at the Descanso Junction ( a filling station at that time) and got gas. Little did he realize that one day he would live nearby for more than 35 years.

Later that year during the summer solstice, Duwaine’s brother Scotty had quit his job in the aircraft industry and moved home to the family farm. Scotty, J.W., Joy’s brother and Duwaine decided to make money harvesting wheat. As the growing wheat ripened with the movement of the sun, they started below Abilene, TX with J.W. driving the tractor while Duwaine sat behind watching the combine. Their tractor was pulling a John Deere combine with a motor, not self-propelled, Duwaine’s job was to adjust the level of the combine to ensure they were not cutting too much of the stalk. Scotty’s job was to move out 20 to 30 miles ahead and contract with farmers to harvest their wheat. Duwaine enjoyed sleeping in the fields at night but didn’t like having to bath in the cold water from the irrigation wells the farmers allowed them to use at the end of the day. From farm to farm they would cut and send wheat by truck to market. Each time they came to a town, Scotty would check the post office for mail from home, and each time there was a letter from their Mother telling Scotty to “Send that boy home!” Duwaine never wanted to go, but when they got up into Kansas, Scotty decided it was time for Duwaine to go home and sent him home by rail. Scotty continued cutting wheat with J.W. all the way up and into Canada.

In 1948 Mr. Corley, Joy and O.B’s father bought a new car and asked O.B. and Duwaine if they would drive the family to visit Mrs. Corley’s family in Alabama. This was also very exciting for them because they loved to drive and this would be a long trip. They visited Mrs. Corley’s family in Cullman, Alabama for six days. One evening while they were there, several of them decided to go to the drive-in picture show. These drive-in shows were very popular all over the country at this time. Joy and Duwaine sat in the back seat during the show, and it was that night they held hands for the first time. Just holding hands that night sure changed their attitude toward each other and was the start of their love for each other. On the way back to Texas they went by to visit with Mr. Corley’s brother who lived near Fort Worth. One night while they were there O.B. and Duwaine were sitting in the car listing to the music on the radio, and O.B. suggested they should have a double date together when they arrived home. Duwaine asked him whom he would ask out, and he said it would be Betty Jane, the neighbor girl that went to Tahoka school with Duwaine. He asked Duwaine who he would ask out, and Duwaine said Joy and O.B. said: “Are you crazy! Why would you ask her?" After they talked about this for a while, O.B. said he would have to sneak her out of the house because her Dad would not let her date at 13 years old. So, they agreed that was what they would do, and that was the start of their four-year dating affair.

After graduation from high school, Duwaine and a friend applied to work for the FBI in Washington D.C. He did not think they would be hired, but after about two months they both received a letter requesting them to report to Washington D.C. This was exciting but mother said he could not go!!!!, he was just 17 years old, and mother said that is just too young to go off to a place like Washington D.C. He finally got his father to agree and talked his mother into changing her mind. Joy was very upset, but Duwaine told her it would only be for a short period and then he would be home.

Duwaine had been working for at the FBI for less than a year when he received a letter from Joy’s cousin saying she is dating another guy and if he really loved her he should come home. He did love her very much, so he took the train home.

He enrolled at Texas A&M campus in Stephenville, Texas majoring in Engineering. They resumed dating but not as much as they had before he left for Washington D.C. He would hitchhike home each weekend, and date Joy but that travel got old, so the next semester he transferred to Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas. In April of 1952, Duwaine gave Joy an engagement ring and asked her to marry him. Joy was very nervous, but she said YES. She thought her dad might say no because she was only 16 years old at that time. The night they were engaged, they went to each of their family’s home to announce the event. They were concerned what the families would say. Joy’s Dad said that since they had been sneaking around dating her since she was 13, it was about time Duwaine asked her to marry him. They thought her Dad and Mother did not know about the early dating, but he later told Duwaine that all they had to do was look at each of us and it was plain as day we were madly in love.

In February of 1953, Duwaine received notice from Uncle Sam to report to the army. Joy and Duwaine did not want to be in the army, so he went down and signed up for the Air Force and was sent to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas for boot camp.

Duwaine’s first assignment was a three-year tour in Nova Scotia without Joy. He talked to his commander and said the only other orders he could give him was to Korea; this would be a 12-month tour of war. After talking much about it, they decided to take Korea. He reported to San Francisco on January 2, so he had four weeks before he had to leave. After a short visit in Tahoka, his mother and father drove Joy and him to San Diego. They had Christmas and New Year there before he left for San Francisco. They visited Tijuana, the zoo, Palomar Observatory and just spent time together. He arrived in San Francisco 2 days before boarding the USS Jackson for Japan. There were 4 thousand soldiers in addition to the crew on board the ship that was originally designed to carry only a crew of 250 men, and it was just impossible to move around. They were all made to go up on the main deck each morning while they washed down all the sleeping compartments. All the compartments smelled so bad from everyone being sick it was difficult to sleep no matter how tired. His compartment was four decks below the main deck in the very front of the ship. The extreme pitch up and down as well as side to side of the ship made it feel like he was in a large storm all the time. They only fed two meals a day, and it took standing in line for hours to get that. There were no tables or chairs, and he had to eat standing up on a 4-foot flat piece of metal about 24 inches wide. They had to eat with their thumbs holding the tray to prevent it from sliding off the table. Everyone was seasick, and the man that slept below him looked like he was going to die. He never ate anything so Duwaine would bring him something to eat from his plate. He said, “It was the worst 13 days of my life.”

He was dropped off at “ K-13, Suwon” and reported into the 51st Fighter-Interceptor Wing Headquarters. He was assigned to tent number 12 with nine other Airmen. He was resigned to the 5th Air Force Headquarters at “ K 16”. During this year he had written every day to Joy, and she had written every day to him, Joy often sent a box of “goodies’ which was so welcome because his food was awful in the chow hall.

After returning from Korea, Duwaine and Joy left Tahoka the last week of January for Greenville South Carolina due to his assignment with the Air Force. After his last promotion, they decided it was time to start a family. Finally, the big day came, and Duwaine rushed Joy to the Base hospital at about 6:00 p.m. and Donna was born. Duwaine was discharged from the Air Force on March 7, 1957, and headed back for Texas to start farming.

After much talking and thinking Duwaine’s father suggested he do something else for a year instead of farming to see what was happening in the farming and ranching business because it was not a very profitable business. His father said it would cost a lot of money to get into business and I might be a long time paying it back.

Duwaine’s brother Waiian was a painter in San Diego but decided he wanted to build an egg production ranch and had already started the ranch when Duwaine got out of the service. Duwaine called Waiian on the phone, and Waiian said he was going to quit painting and go full time on the egg ranch. However, he was still working for a painting company. He said if Duwaine came to San Diego he could take his job at the painting company, and he would go full time on the ranch. Duwaine and Joy decided to go to San Diego, and he would go into the painting trade. Joy had lived with Waiian and his family while Duwaine was in Korea and she loved San Diego. So, they packed up everything they owned and moved to San Diego. They then bought a building lot in El Cajon, rented a small trailer house and moved it on the lot, dug a septic tank and connected it to the house trailer and started to build a new home.

The house was two-bedrooms, one bath, a living room, dining room and a kitchen, about 1300 sq. ft. He used his GI loan for $7,750, and it paid for everything but the water heater. During this time Joy became pregnant with Lori, and she was born that August.

About this time he was painting a commercial building in El Cajon when he got acquainted with the Chief Financial Officer of the company. He was a CPA, and Duwaine had lunch with him to discuss what it took to become a CPA. After these discussions, he went to the VA and took an aptitude test. He had a high aptitude for numbers and accounting was recommended. In 1959 he started back to college at San Diego Junior College at night.

He entered San Diego State University with an Accounting Major and graduated one and one-half years later. He used his “ GI Bill “ for school and to help pay their bills he drove a school bus for the Grossmont Union School District. He graduated from SDSU in the summer of 1962 with a 3.8-grade point average and honors in accounting. His best offer was with Arthur Young, and it was for employment in San Diego. His starting salary was $560.00 per month and both Joy, and he thought they would just accumulate money around the house because they could not spend that much money per month. Duwaine left Arthur Young in 1964 to become the Chief Financial Officer of a new company, Oceanographic Engineering Corporation. The company was later sold to Dillingham Corporation in Hawaii.

Duwaine found a large two-acre lot with 32 large avocado trees on it, and it was very close to the Granite Hills High School, Madison Elementary School and the Granite Hills Middle School, on the street named Via Verde. The girls could walk to school, and it was almost next door to their best friends, Yale and Luann Combs. Yale and Duwaine had both worked for Arthur Young, and they also took the CPA exam at the same time.

In 1968 Joy and Duwaine had an opportunity along with four other families (all close friends) to participate in the purchase of 40 acres of beautiful meadow property close to Descanso from Bob Burrell. All families agreed they would keep the property as a 40-acre parcel and just use it for camping and riding horses. They sold their camper and bought a motorhome. They put in a campsite for the motorhome, dug a well and brought electricity to the property. For about ten years they would take the horses and motorhome and camp on the property almost every weekend and ride all the trails in the Cuyamaca Rancho State Park with friends and family. They built eight corrals under the big oak trees which are now behind Lori and Alan’s house.

They joined the Los Senderos riding club, members were mostly large ranchers in San Diego County, with some doctors, dentist, and lawyers. It was a family club and they all road on different member’s ranches once each month. Once a year the men had a five-day ride on one of the large ranches. Duwaine was also a member of the El Cajon Mounted Police for 12 years.

In 1974 Joy and Duwaine had bought Perkins Store in Descanso with his brother as his partner. A few years later when he was ready to retire, he sold his interest to Duwaine and Joys very good friends Paul and Jessie Barkley who was the Chief Executive Office of PSA. The post office was inside the store as well as a large potbelly stove with chairs around it.

In 1978 Joy and Duwaine had the opportunity to buy 10 acres in Descanso to built a new ranch. They decided to sell their home in El Cajon and build a horse ranch on the property which was just wild land. In 1979 they moved into their motor home parked on the property and started to build a new home. Lori was in high school and drove each day to school. They lived in the motorhome for six months while the land was cleared and built their new home.

In the late 1980’s Duwaine and Joy had bought a beautiful cabin on the Pecos River in New Mexico. Duwaine and Joy loved spending time at the cabin and enjoyed fishing instead of riding horses and visiting with family from Texas.

Duwaine lived life to the fullest and was grateful for every moment. However, his most cherished memories were when he was with his family. Duwaine’s love of his daughters, Donna and Lori, was only matched by the pride he felt watching them grow-up and become the amazing women they are today. Duwaine’s five grandchildren also brought much joy to his life--each one so different but loved them all fiercely. He cherished the time and relationships he had with each of them and often talked of how fulfilled he was by his grandchildren. He took his relationship with them seriously, not only was he a mentor but supportive, loving and always understanding. His favorite times were those that included all of his grandchildren at big family dinners, fishing at the cabin, swimming in the pool, holidays or really any excuse for them to be together.

Duwaine never met a stranger, he was generous, kind to all, saw good in everyone, a loyal friend, a loving husband, amazing father and grandfather. He was a devout Christian, and it was his faith that guided him throughout his life. Duwaine gave his life to the Lord Jesus Christ when he was 15 years old while driving a John Deere tractor in a cotton field on the family farm. He was baptized into the First Methodist Church in Tahoka. He was raised by a devoutly loving Christian, totally deaf Father and a church active, loving Christian Mother. When Duwaine and Joy moved to San Diego, they were very active in the First Presbyterian Church in El Cajon. He was the treasurer and deacon of the church and started a Youth High School Group that met each week. Later, he became a member of the Shadow Mountain Community Church and loved listening to Dr. David Jeremiah on Sunday mornings and attending church with his grandson John and daughter Donna.

At the end of his life, Duwaine lived in Descanso along with his daughter Lori and son-in-law Alan. He planted and tended to his orchard and loved spending time cooking and reading. He looked forward to visiting friends each week by phone and meeting them for lunch dates. He continued to travel with friends and family and truly felt he had a blessed life.

Duwaine and his wife Joy of 57 years are survived by two daughters Donna Gail Lazos and Lori Juanelle Hernandez, five grandchildren Joy Nicole Chambers, John Duwaine Lazos, Danielle Christine Hewitt, Molly Noel Hernandez, Macy Alan Hernandez and four great-grandchildren Ford, Collins, Merrik, and Bryson, along with countless close friends.

Business Biography

Duwaine Townsen began his career in San Diego with Arthur Young & Company following graduation from San Diego State University in 1961. He later became a founder and Chief Financial Officer of Oceanographic Engineering Corporation in Sorrento Valley and guided the company to profitability and its sale to Dillingham Corporation in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1967. Duwaine was then promoted to President of the newly formed Ocean Operations Division of Dillingham in 1967.

Duwaine left Dillingham Corporation in 1969 to form Kay Laboratories, Inc., a medical device company, as Chief Financial Officer. He was appointed to CEO and Chairman in 1974 and guided the Company through its IPO in 1978 and sale to American Hospital Supply Corporation in 1981.

After the sale of Kay Laboratories, Duwaine formed F. D. Townsen & Associates, a proprietorship active in lending funds, guaranteeing loans, and investing in small emerging companies. Also, Duwaine was a consultant to small emerging companies regarding corporate finance, mergers, and acquisitions, board participation, and management assistance, primarily with Southern California based technology companies.

In 1982, Duwaine co-founded Ventana Growth Funds, a group of five venture capital funds, as its Managing Partner. Ventana Growth Fund was the first venture capital fund domiciled in San Diego dedicated to the Southern California market. Ventana Growth Funds invested primarily in early and middle stage life science, high tech and telecommunications companies.

In 1998 Duwaine co-founded EndPoint Late-Stage Funds as its Managing Partner in San Diego. These funds invested exclusively in late-stage life science companies.

In a career that spans more than 40 years in San Diego, he worked with over 30 emerging companies, primarily in the areas of biotechnology and health care. As a CPA, former CEO/Chairman, and General Partner of six venture funds, his business acumen was one of strong corporate governance, business management, financial planning, and controls.

During the past twenty years, Duwaine served on the Board of Directors for eleven publicly held companies, eight with San Diego locations, including Agouron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Brooktree Corporation, Cymer, Inc., Maxim Pharmaceuticals, and Infrasonics. He also served on the Board of Directors of fourteen privately held companies, ten located in San Diego.

With his many years of service and involvement in the community, Duwaine was a long-time advocate and supporter of entrepreneurship. He was one of the original organizers of San Diego Venture Group. He was an active participant in technology and entrepreneurship programs at the University of California, San Diego (as a member of the Steering Committee of the CONNECT Program) and San Diego State University Entrepreneurial Center. In 1994 he was awarded the San Diego State University Alumni of the Year Award as a distinguished alumna from the College of Business Administration, and in 1996 was a finalist in the San Diego Entrepreneur of the Year Award. In March 2003, he was the recipient of the 2003 Director of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award by the Corporate Directors Forum. Duwaine served on the Board of Directors for the Corporate Directors Forum.

Affiliations and Civic Activities:

2003 Director of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award - Corporate Directors Forum

San Diego State University 1994 Alumni of Year Award

Distinguished Alumna - College of Business Administration

University of California, San Diego CONNECT Sponsor

San Diego Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist – 1996

Steering Committee/UCSD Connect Program

Biotechnology InCyte (Program in Research & Policy at the Center of Molecular Genetics at UCSD)

San Diego Venture Group - one of the original organizers

San Diego Biotechnology Forum

University Research Foundation

San Diego Financial Forum

National Venture Capital Association

Scripps Research Council

San Diego Biocommerce Association

Republican Party Senatorial/Small Business Inner Circle under President George Bush

San Diego State University Business Plan Competition Committee

San Diego State University Entrepreneurial Group

Beta Alpha Psi Fraternity at San Diego State University

Planning Executives Institute (now known as San Diego Planning Forum)

El Cajon Mounted Police (approximately 12 years)

Elks Lodge/El Cajon

Sponsor of the East County Boys and Girls Club

In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate donations to St. Jude's in memory of Fulton Duwaine Townsen. Donations can be made via phone or check. Please include Memorial ID# 11105325

St. Jude's

Fulton Duwaine Townsen's Memorial ID# 11105325

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