As most of you know, my father-in-law, Richard Duiven, passed away last week. Here is his obituary as printed in the San Jose Mercury News.
Richard Duiven Richard (“Rick”) Duiven Rick Duiven passed away February 12, 2009. He was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on September 16, 1939, the only child of Henry and Vivian Duiven, who predeceased him. He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Linda (“Lin”) Duiven of Cupertino; his daughter Jan Duiven of Eugene, Oregon; his daughter Stephanie Arthur and her husband, Paul, of Seattle, Washington; and two grandsons, Zach and Nate Arthur. As a teenager, he was active in Boy Scouts, and achieved the rank of Eagle Scout with God and Country and Order of the Arrow awards. Rick obtained both his B.S. and M.S. degrees in aeronautical engineering from the University of Michigan in 1963, where he had been a teaching fellow. He accepted a position with United Technology Center in Sunnyvale following graduation, and has been a resident of Sunnyvale and then Cupertino ever since. He retired from Acurex/Aerotherm Corporation in 1996. When his daughters began playing soccer, Rick enthusiastically took up the sport, and served as a coach and referee in both AYSO and CYSA for many years. He was so “enthusiastic” that he was once red-carded as a spectator, which he was never able to live down. He had 100% attendance at his daughters’ soccer and softball games, and never missed a dance recital, band or choral concert, or theater performance in which either of his girls participated. He was known for his sense of humor, his bridge-playing talents and his absolute in ability to cook anything. It was a family joke that he cut the tip of his thumb off into the campfire pot of Boy Scout stew, which was totally consumed by the unsuspecting troop members. Before Lin went to law school and Rick was forced to either take over some kitchen duties or starve, he was teased about his thought-provoking culinary questions such as, “Where do we keep the ice?” When he more or less cheerfully became somewhat familiar with the stove, his best recipe was fillet of sole almondine, until one night when he ran out of vegetable oil for sautéing and substituted Karo syrup because “they looked the same to me.” Outside the local community, he was an internationally recognized expert in his decades-long devotion to World War I aviation history. He spent about fifty years researching any conceivable aspect of the German pilots of WWI, and was the co-author of four published books on the subject. He also authored a number of award-winning articles, and was an editor and columnist for Cross & Cockade and Over the Front, magazines devoted to WWI aviation history. In later years, he was asked to write reviews of the works of others. At his request, there will be no funeral or memorial service. Donations are neither necessary nor requested, but if you feel compelled, the family suggests the McDermott Library Aviation Collections, University of Texas at Dallas, P.O. Box 83643, Richardson, Texas 75083-0343, or a charity of your choice.
One thing I never knew…he never missed one event for his daughters – never missed a practice, a recital, or game…very impressive.
