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Saturday, May 26, 2007
LDS Church News
'A wonderful man'
Mission president remembered as faithful servant who did much good
HEBER CITY, Utah — President Ralph L. Duke was remembered during a funeral May 19 as a mission president and friend who generously gave of his talents and time to bless others.
The service included words of comfort from President Thomas S. Monson, first counselor in the First Presidency, along with talks from President Duke's four children, R.L., Michael and Spencer Duke, and Katie Duke Nelson, and other friends and fellow Church members from Heber City, Utah.
President Duke's life and exemplary spirit of devotion were memorialized by some 2,000 people who attended the service in his hometown of Heber City. President Duke, 57, died in a May 10 traffic accident after he and Sister Duke had taken missionaries to the Entebbe Airport in Uganda. His wife was not seriously injured.
The mission president's lifelong desire to serve his Church and fellow men was evident when he was called by President Monson to preside over the new Uganda Kampala Mission. President Duke and his wife, Sister Kim Duke, were given just over three weeks notice to begin their service in Africa — but the Dukes accepted without hesitation.
President Duke accepted the mission call in the form of a letter:
"Dear Brethren," he wrote, "It is with a humble heart that Sister Duke and I accept this call to the Uganda Kampala Mission. We love the people of Africa and look forward to serving them. We commit to give our all to the service of the Lord."
Speaking at the funeral, President Monson said he could not see an empty seat in the Heber City Utah North Stake Center. "It's a wonderful tribute to a wonderful man," he said in reference to the many people who attended the service.
President Monson said that when he learned President Duke had died, he offered a private prayer.
"It is difficult to have missionaries pass away," said President Monson, calling President Duke the sort of man "who never gave up on others."
The faithful mission president's death marks a "temporary separation," President Monson noted.
"We came from a heavenly home — I'm sure there were tears as we left," President Monson said. "In this mortal life, we have the opportunity to prove ourselves. Then comes this temporary passing, and it's hard."
President Monson read a letter from the First Presidency addressed to Sister Duke.
"We rejoice with you in your husband's life of service," he paraphrased from the letter. "He successfully used his talents to do good in the world.... We appreciate his dedicated service to the Church."
President Monson said Sister Duke need not worry about finding her partner when she enters heaven. "Your beloved husband will be looking for you." The Church leader counseled Sister Duke to place her hand in God's loving hand.
"(President Duke) was a giant of a man in many ways," said son R.L. Duke. "I have a long way to go to fulfill the measure of example that has been set for me. But for my father, I'll try."
Sister Nelson said that her children were born after her parents left for Africa and she had been "so excited for him to come home and be Grandpa. Now, we are just going to teach them how he was."
President Duke is survived by his wife, and children, R.L. (Melissa), Michael (Keri), Spencer (Karissa), and Katie Nelson (Mitch); nine grandchildren, and six siblings.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Heber residents mourn 'old-timer'
LDS mission president from Utah killed in car accident in Uganda
By Sara Israelsen and Carrie A. Moore
Deseret Morning News
HEBER CITY — Residents are mourning the loss of a businessman, civic contributor and religious leader who was killed in a traffic accident Thursday while serving as president of the Uganda Kampala Mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"We're gonna miss him," said Heber business owner Ren Provost, who grew up with President Ralph L. Duke. "He'll leave a big hole in the community."
President Duke, 57, and his wife, Kim, were returning from the Entebbe Airport, presumably to the mission office, around 6:30 a.m. when the accident occurred, according to Elder Chris Fee, executive secretary in the LDS Church's Africa Southeast Area office.
In an interview, Fee said the couple had just taken four missionaries to the airport ? two of whom had finished mission and two others who were leaving to serve missions elsewhere.
Sister Duke was injured but has been treated and released from a hospital, Elder Fee said. There were no other passengers in the Dukes' vehicle at the time of the accident, he said.
Details of what caused the accident were not immediately available.
"We pray the spirit of the Lord will be with Sister Duke, her family, friends and the missionaries in the Uganda Kampala Mission during this difficult time," church spokesman Scott Trotter said.
Word of the accident spread quickly throughout the city of Heber, where the Dukes had been lifelong residents.
"It's a shock for everybody," said Steve Provost, assistant store director of the Smith's grocery store. "He's one of the old-timers."
A grocer and rancher by trade, President Duke grew up on a farm in Heber and worked in local grocery stores before buying a failing grocery store and turning it into Duke's IGA — one of the most successful businesses in town, residents said.
Steve Provost worked with President Duke at his IGA store before it was sold to Smith's about 10 years ago.
"He always had time for you," said life-long resident Vida Applegate, who spent many of her 30 years in the grocery business working with President Duke. "He was interested in what you were doing.
"He had great integrity," she continued. "He was honest with those he knew and associated with."
Ren Provost said he got to know President Duke best while the two served with Mike Kohler as Wasatch County commissioners from 1999 to 2003.
"He was honest and he told it like it was," he said during an interview in the office of his Wasatch Auto Supply store on Main Street. "He spoke his opinion. I'll miss Ralph."
Kohler said President Duke enjoyed working on the community's master plan and helping to ensure Heber would be carefully taken care of as it grew.
"He was very confident and had a lot of ideas," said Kohler, who is still a member of the now Wasatch County Council. "He loved to work with people. His people skills made him a good businessman."
There's a long list of Dukes in the Heber phone book, which includes R.L. and Mike Duke, two of the couple's four children who are firefighters for the Wasatch County Fire District. Another son, Spencer, is a sergeant with the Utah Highway Patrol.
Spencer Duke had a passport and could quickly book a flight to Kampala on Thursday to be with their mother and help arrange to bring their father's body home, said Mike Duke.
"She's coming home," Mike Duke said. "As soon as we can get her here, she's coming home."
A man of deep and simple faith, President Duke "was just a giant of a man for everybody that knew him," R.L. Duke said with emotion in his voice. "He was an example to the whole community. He just possessed all the qualities that we all strive to attain. He wasn't fake — people loved him. He loved the gospel and the church and devoted his whole life to that cause, to service."
President Duke had served three LDS missions: one in Australia as a young man; a second with his wife, overseeing the Church Education System in Johannesburg, South Africa; and his most recent assignment as mission president in Uganda.
President Duke had only been home five months and had just been called as a bishop when he was asked by church leaders to serve in Uganda, R.L. Duke said.
"They had two weeks to prepare to take the assignment, and they did it," he said. "They didn't hesitate."
That's how President Duke responded to any call to serve, his sons said.
"Where he was and what he was doing say more than I can," Mike Duke said, choking back tears. "That's what means the most to me. He did whatever he was asked to do as far as serving. He didn't care what the sacrifice was."
"Words can't describe how great a man he was," R.L. Duke said.
The couple raised their children on a ranch, and President Duke loved spending time with his horses and hunting elk and deer, said Steve Provost.
But most of all, he was devoted to his family of four children, their spouses and nine grandchildren — all of whom live in Wasatch County.
"He loved his grandchildren. He would always take his grandkids on little trips and invite them over for a sleepover or take them for a treat. They were the light of his life," R.L. Duke said, noting their last three grandchildren have been born since the Dukes began serving in July 2005.
"We're hanging in there," Mike Duke said. "We're just grateful that we know what we know. Our faith will get us through it."
A member of the Valley Hills 1st Ward, Heber Utah North Stake, President Duke was a former counselor in the stake presidency. He was born in 1949 in Heber to William Howard and Ellen Child Duke. He is survived by his wife, sons R.L., Spencer and Mike, and a daughter, Katie.
Elder William Parmley, a member of the Africa Southeast Area Presidency, has been sent to Uganda and will assume leadership of the mission, Elder Fee said.
LDS Church News
June 25, 2005
Ralph L. Duke, 55; Uganda Kampala Mission; Valley Hills 1st Ward, Heber City Utah North Stake; former counselor in stake presidency, bishop; high priests group leader, counselor in the elders quorum presidency and missionary in the Australia Sydney Mission. Owner of Dukes IGA Supermarket. Born in Heber City, Utah, to William Howard and Ellen Child Duke. Married Pamela Kim
Benshoff, four children.
Sister Duke is a former stake Young Women counselor and president, ward Young Women president, counselor in the ward Relief Society presidency, missionary CES coordinator. Born in Heber City, Utah, to John William and Liesa Joan Thielke Benshoff. |
