Robert Andrew “Bob” Duncan

View Funeral Webcast Robert Andrew “Bob” Duncan, 67, beloved Maury County Historian, died Monday, September 30, 2019 at Maury Regional Medical Center. A celebration of life will be conducted Saturday at 3:00 P.M. at First Presbyterian Church with Reverend Len Carrell and Tom Price, director of the Maury County Archives, officiating. The family will visit with friends Saturday from 12:00 P.M. until the time of the service at the church. Memorials can be made to Williamsport Cemetery c/o Martha Duncan, 6014 Clifton Drive Columbia, Tennessee 38401, First Presbyterian Church, 801 South High St. Columbia, TN 38401, or Maury County Archives, 201 East 6th St. Columbia, TN 38401. Condolences may be extended online at www.oakesandnichols.com. Born October 6, 1951, in Maury County, he was the son of Lila Pearl Cude Duncan and the late Samuel Paul Duncan. He was a 1970 graduate of Columbia Central High School and also attended Columbia State Community College and Memphis State University. From 1974 until 1982, he worked at Southland Corporation in Memphis, St. Louis, and northern California. He moved back to Columbia in 1982 and began a career as an auctioneer and real estate agent and owned and operated Century 21 Venture Real Estate until 1990. Until 2000 he worked as a certified real estate appraiser. He was appointed as the first Director of the Maury County Archives, and he initiated the collection with the last volume of county records passed from hand to hand.  He added continuously added to the Archives until his retirement in 2018.  Mr. Duncan was a former Maury County Commissioner for twelve years from 1992 to 2004, a Paul Harris Fellow, a 33rd  degree Mason and a Shriner, and an honorary member of the DAR. He was a talented public speaker, and he spoke at many historical and community events. One of Bob’s favorite hobbies was military war games. For many years, he wrote articles titled Hindsight, published in the Columbia Daily Herald. Later he compiled those articles into four books. His books are Archives Notebook (2003), River of Fire (2004), Dimple of the Universe (2005), and Born Old in Sin (2010).  He also authored two WWII photo books, and he was commissioned to write the history of First Farmers and Merchants for their hundredth anniversary.  He was a great storyteller and loved reading to the elementary students in the Maury County Schools. He loved to be called Uncle Bob. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church where he served as an elder and on numerous committees. He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Dorothy Pardue Duncan of Columbia; sons, Samuel Scott Duncan of Columbia and David Andrew (Ashlea) Duncan of Smyrna; mother, Lila Pearl Cude Duncan of Columbia; sister, Martha Duncan of Columbia; brother, Donald Paul (Kathy) Duncan of Coopertown; two grandchildren, Paul Dempsey Duncan of Columbia and Ella James Moore of Smyrna, former daughter-in-law, Corbin Matlock Duncan; nephew, Greg Duncan of Coopertown. Bob was looking forward to his twin grandchildren due in November.