Duane Martin Sparks

Duane M. Sparks, Jr., age 73, passed away in Columbus, Ohio on Monday, August 3, 2020 at Riverside Methodist Hospital. Duane was born in Cleveland, Ohio on July 30, 1947 to the late Duane, Sr. and Ruth Hagen Sparks. Duane will be deeply missed by his brother Kerry (Ann) Sparks; sister Joan (Thom) Thurin; nieces Carly (Dean) Marchant and Amanda (Scott) Petroff; and nephew Kyle (Rory) Sparks.

Duane, a resident of Breckenridge Village - a senior living community in Willoughby, Ohio, lived and worked in the Cleveland area all his life. He was a dedicated worker for King Musical Instruments (now Conn-Selmer) in Eastlake, JS Automatic Company in Mentor and most recently, Executive Caterers' at Landerhaven in Mayfield Heights.

Duane had many interests and at times seemed to have a near encyclopedic knowledge of them. Some of his most popular passions include music and musicians from the blues, early RandB, Rock and Roll, Classical, Country/Western, and Popular genres (he was a huge Beatles fan); trains and railroads; grocery stores; dogs, cats, birds, fish, and wild mammals; geography, encompassing countries, rivers, lakes and oceans, mountains, and national parks. He followed major league baseball and compiled and pored over baseball statistics. He studied nationalities and origins of names, beers from around the world and flags, both domestic, and foreign. He also loved the Sopranos and loved to talk about specific episodes and dialog and seemed to have the entire 6 seasons and 86 episodes committed to memory.

He was an avid coupon user and loved shopping for teas, jams, Girl Scout cookies high-end eggnog and sodas made with cane sugar rather than high fructose corn syrup. Vernor's was a favorite! He would never pass up a chance at a good Dutch apple pie, or really any desert as he had a genuine sweet tooth. He will be missed greatly by those who knew and loved him.

Due to the current restrictions with Covid-19, the family will be having a private burial of the urn at a later date. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to The Music Settlement (www.themusicsettlement.org) Please visit www.schoedinger.com to share memories and condolences. Funeral arrangements entrusted to SCHOEDINGER NORTHWEST CHAPEL.