Patricia (Pat) Louise Duncan passed away peacefully on January 23rd 2019. She was born on February 7th 1933 in Kansas City, Missouri to James Patrick Duncan Sr. and Christine Marie (Pecenka) Duncan. In her youth she attended Kansas City Public Schools. According to Pat she was a painfully shy child who loved recess.
She attended Central High School and found her niche in the school’s excellent sports program. She became a member of the Olympian Club (a girl’s sports program) and attended club reunions throughout her life. Pat decided she wanted to become a physical education teacher and after graduating high school she attended Kansas City Junior College before transferring to Kansas University. She often remarked that the day she received her degree was one of the proudest moments of her life.
Pat decided to attend graduate school at Indiana University, an experience she found personally rewarding. After graduate school Pat taught at a variety of schools in Illinois, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas before returning to K.U., and later Northern Colorado University, for additional graduate work.
When her parents became ill she returned to Kansas City and began working for Kansas City Parks and Recreation. In all Pat spent over twenty five years working at community centers, outreach programs and swimming facilities. Throughout her extraordinary life Pat was a devoted daughter, sister and aunt. She travelled extensively and attended The Wimbledon Tennis and The Masters Golf Tournaments.
In her later years Pat loved watching the K.U. Jayhawks play. She loved cats, especially kittens, and she loved birds, almost as much as the cats did though for vastly different reasons. Pat was an avid gardener and in the summer shared her abundant tomato crop with family and friends. She was kind, loving, generous and caring. Pat attended services at Holy Cross Catholic Church and was a devoted servant of the faith providing communion to shut-ins and acting as a reader during mass.
Pat was preceded in death by her parents, James and Christine Duncan and her brother, James Patrick Duncan, Jr.
She leaves behind three sisters - Rose Huffman and Phyllis Hanes, both of Independence, MO and Ellen (Jake) Welch and husband Robert, of Sugar Creek, MO as well as many nieces and nephews and friends.
Visitation will be held on January 31st 2019 from 9 a.m. – 10:00a.m. at Holy Cross Catholic Church located at 5106 St. John Ave. in Northeast K.C., MO. A funeral mass will be held immediately following the visitation. A Celebration of Life reception will be held after the funeral at the home of Andrea Welch, 11402 E. Putnam St. Sugar Creek, MO from 12:30 – 2:00. A private family burial will be held at 12:00 p.m. February 1st 2019 at Mt. Olivet Cemetery located at 7601 Blue Ridge Blvd. Raytown, MO
