Duncan, Arvil Cleave

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duncan arvil cleaveArvil Cleave Duncan, 86, of Radford, passed away on Sunday, February 10, 2013, at his home, surrounded by his loving family. Born September 11, 1926, in Floyd County, Arvil was the son of the late James Clayton and Lola Phillips Duncan. He fondly recalled memories of his youth in Riner, Christiansburg, and Blacksburg, milking cows, chasing hogs, tapping sugar maple trees, fishing at the Sower’s Mill Dam, and swimming in Meadow Creek. After working at a Christiansburg overalls factory, Burlington Mill in Radford, the Radford Foundry, and the Veteran’s Hospital in Salem, Arvil enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, where he served as an MP during World War II in Guam and China. He proudly spoke of marching in the Honolulu V-J Day Parade and seeing the Great Wall of China during his service. After the end of the war, Arvil returned home and soon moved his life to the Baltimore area, where he delivered milk for Sealtest Dairy and worked for 22 years in the boiler shop of Bethlehem Steel’s Sparrows Point Shipyard; he finished his career as a supervisor, retiring in 1988. He and his loving wife, Barbara, returned to the New River Valley in 1993, where much of their family took up residence alongside them on Cornbread Road in Dry Valley. Arvil spent the last few years of his life surrounded by his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, who could always count on walking into his home to find him in the kitchen fixing his world-class sausage gravy, or sitting in his favorite armchair, arms crossed, with a huge smile on his face, and an enthusiastic “Hey there!” He is preceded in death by his son, Timothy Duncan; and brothers, Oden, Cereal, Benson, and Samuel Duncan. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Barbara Thompson Duncan; sons and spouses, Billy and Linda Duncan, Steve and Barbara Duncan, and Dean Duncan; daughters and spouses, Sheila and Dan Revie, and Tamara and Kenneth Keen; grandchildren Missy and Preston Hedge, Renee Duncan, Regina and David Dickinson, Billy and Shellie Duncan, David Strathy, Krista McKinley, Desiree and Brandon Rhodes, Mindy and Justin Gillespie, and Danielle Keen; great-grandchildren Joshua Duncan, Zachary Akers, Cody Hedge, Matthew Duncan, Tanner Duncan, Carley Hedge, Alex Duncan, and Marissa McKinley; brothers, Ralph and Rudolph Duncan; sister, Elizabeth Sowers; other special family members, Ronnie and Geri Thompson, and Dave Strathy; and his special canine companion, Queenie. The family offers special thanks to Venessa, Treasa, Lindsey, Heather, and the rest of the Carilion Hospice staff for all of their wonderful loving care and support. The family will receive visitors on Saturday, February 16, 2013, from 4 to 6 p.m., at DeVilbiss Funeral Home, 1200 Grove Ave, Radford. A service, conducted by Brother Dennis Morris of the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses, will follow. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Riner Volunteer Rescue Squad at P.O. Box 858, Riner, VA 24149.